


A Matter of Perspective

by Evergreens12345



Category: Smallfoot (2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 55,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23138275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evergreens12345/pseuds/Evergreens12345
Summary: A few months have passed since yetis and humans made peace. Friendships are thriving, curiosity and questions are welcomed with open arms, and life is better than ever. But what happens when an attempt to better communication gets way out of hand?At the center of the incident are Fleem, a yeti, and Dallin Ridge, a smallfoot, when they wake up to a big surprise......
Comments: 20
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 16

Fleem wasn't a people person.

He watched the other yetis from his village mingle with the smallfeet, chatting happily and showing each other parts of the other's world. Ever since the two villages had accepted each other as friends, life in both had completely changed.  
Recognizable among the crowd was Migo, and the red coated smallfoot who had brought everyone together. Those two were inseparable.

Fleem watched them try and struggle to communicate in gestures, shaking his head. It seemed like a lot of trouble. He always came down with the village and the S.E.S, but he just didn't have the patience to try to make friends with smallfeet.

So he wandered by himself, exploring the maze of buildings that made up the smallfoot village. The other yetis took no notice, giving all their attention to their smallfoot friends, and seemed content to let him do what he wanted. He was perfectly fine with that.

Fleem stopped to watch a small crowd of smallfeet disperse in front of him. Out of sight of the other yetis, he was the tallest creature around for once.  
Many of them greeted him with nods as they passed, and a few stopped to look at him. Fleem grinned back mischievously and growled. It never worked. Some of the smallfeet glanced at each other as if confused. A few others gave high pitched giggles and playfully growled back. Ever since yetis and smallfeet had made peace, the smallfeet had lost all fear of yetis.

A little indignant, Fleem huffed and turned his back on them, starting to make his way back towards the edge of the village. He was far taller, yes, but the satisfaction in this was ruined when the tiny creatures didn't take him seriously at all.

He stopped and almost groaned out loud when he heard another group of laughter behind him.  
Smallfoot children. He looked over his shoulder at four of them, all looking directly at him.  
"I wasn't playing!" He asserted. "But none of you seem to be able to tell!"  
The children started walking towards him, as if they were trying to be creepy. Fleem turned and ran.  
It didn't matter if they chased him. He knew they had no hopes of keeping up, even as he slowed down to keep from stepping on smallfeet or anything else. Bursting out of the village, he looked back and nodded in satisfaction. He'd lost them.

The other yetis barely gave him a glance. Migo had his smallfoot on his shoulder now, talking to Meechee. Gwangi and Kolka were both a little ways off, each trying to talk to a smallfoot.  
Fleem sighed and chose another direction to wander. Usually he saw plenty of interesting things on his walks, but today, he just wanted to go home. All the colorful lights the smallfeet were fond of felt too bright, the combined voices of yetis and smallfeet felt too loud, and for reasons he couldn't place, he just felt too frustrated to deal with it.

His brooding was interrupted as a smallfoot suddenly appeared in front of him, with a huge grin. Fleem yelped and leaped backwards, startled. He slipped and landed hard on his back, knocking the air out of himself.  
Without missing a beat, the smallfoot began to chatter excitedly in it's high pitched gibberish, obviously talking to him.  
Fleem sat up, annoyance growing. But all he could do was stare at this red haired smallfoot as he talked and talked and talked. "Uh…"

He fought the urge to pull back as he walked closer. Other smallfeet stopped and looked on curiously as the red haired one held up a weird black….thing.  
"What?" Fleem blinked. "What are you doing?"  
The smallfoot held the black thing out towards him, nodding as if in encouragement.  
Fleem blinked again. "You're….giving me this?"  
The smallfoot held it closer.

Fleem sighed and took the device. "All right. Thanks, I guess." The smallfoot just grinned as Fleem stood up. "But what do you expect me to do with it?"  
The smallfoot held up one finger, then turned and ran away. "What? I don't know what that means!" Fleem called after him. But he was gone just as fast as he had appeared.

Fleem looked down at the black thing in his hand. What it was supposed to be shaped like, he couldn't tell. Two straps protruded from the side, and like many things created by smallfeet, a few raised dots decorated one side.  
What was that all about?

Fleem shook his head and headed back towards the yetis again. Some smallfeet acted weirder than others. But he held on to the device. Sometime he would figure out what it was.

* * *

When the yetis finally climbed back up the mountain that night, Fleem felt like he was about to fall asleep on his feet. The other members of the S.E.S chatted excitedly about the fun they'd had.

"My smallfoot showed Meechee and me something really cool!" Migo said. "I think he said it's called a 'magic trick.'"  
Meechee nodded. "For fun, smallfeet like to create illusions of things appearing or disappearing, and changing, like magic."  
Kolka cocked her head. "So they….'trick' each other into thinking they're magic?" Meechee smiled. "Not quite. All of them know it isn't real. But the fun is in wondering _how_ they make it look real. I'll show you sometime. Smallfoot showed us a few of his tricks."  
Fleem zoned out, shaking his head to keep his drowsy attention ahead. How did they have so much energy?

As they approached the village, Fleem blinked awake at the sound of his name behind him, and turned around. The S.E.S were off the path to the village. "Fleem, didn't you hear me?" Kolka looked a little annoyed. "We're having a meeting at the headquarters."

Fleem rubbed his tired eyes and yawned. "This late? I'm not. I'm going home."  
Kolka shrugged. "Fine. Your call." The five other S.E.S members followed Meechee down the secret path to their secret cave, where they had held secret meetings for years.

Fleem didn't move for a bit. He was surprised Kolka had let him off so easily. He had expected protests, some disbelief, maybe to get dragged to the headquarters by his horns.  
But she was right. His call. He didn't need to go to every meeting.

He hiked alone through the snow, through the village, until he reached his home.  
His mom must have been as tired as he was, because the only sound he heard was faint breathing from her room.  
Stumbling into his own, he collapsed onto his bed, gratefully welcoming the comfort of mammoth fur.

He still held the device that smallfoot had given him. Holding it close to a nearby snail, he studied it yet again. Nothing about it made any sense at all. Why did the smallfoot give it to him? What was he supposed to do with it?

Fleem huffed in frustration. Maybe it didn't do anything. He lifted his rock pillow, shoved it underneath, and went to sleep. 

* * *

**Dallin:**  
Dallin Ridge plopped his mop back in the bucket, breathing a sigh of relief. That mess had taken a long time to clean up.  
 _All right, next mess._

He looked around, spotting another spill on another table. Were all people this messy, or just people who visited the Yak Shack?  
He was glad to be busy while no one else was around, but he still felt used. Technically, he was supposed to run the counter, but being barely more than a kid, Dallin always at one point or another ended up with the jobs no one else wanted.

He blamed the lack of structure.

He wiped away the wine splotch, wincing as some dripped onto the floor and his shoe. Almost done. As soon as this table, and now the floor, was clean, his early morning shift would be over.  
Dallin made as quick work as he could, listening to the crowd forming outside. That probably meant the yetis from the mountain were there.

Dallin smiled at the thought. Their friendship with the yetis had done a lot to bring the people in the city together. People seemed happier, more excited and even innocent, like children.  
He didn't have a super close yeti friend, but he always enjoyed taking a moment to talk with any that wanted to.

Dropping his rag in the cleaning bin, he glanced around with satisfaction. The Yak Shack was as good as new. Time to go anywhere else until tomorrow.

Outside, Dallin looked around at the many yetis happily talking with their human friends. In the very front, he saw Percy Patterson, using sign language with his yeti friend. As close as everyone was with the yetis, those two had something special. It was obvious to anyone watching.  
Percy, the first human to befriend a yeti, and the only to visit their village, had become something of a celebrity in the city.  
Everyone wanted to hear his story, and ask him questions about yetis.

Dallin waved as a yeti caught sight of him and headed his way. "Hello."  
The yeti growled her own greeting. She pointed curiously at the Yak Shack behind him. "What was I doing in there?" Dallin did his best to sign, somewhat awkwardly. The yeti nodded.  
"I work in there. You know, a job? Most of the time, I clean stuff, manage the faulty karaoke machine, and every now and then, my many self appointed bosses let me run the counter like I'm supposed to. Got it?"

The yeti cocked her head, looking thoughtful. She started signing, gesturing to her smile, pointing at Dallin, gesturing at the Yak Shack….  
"Huh?" Dallin watched her, trying to make out her meaning. "Oh! Do I enjoy it?" He copied her signs, and she nodded.  
Dallin shook his head. "Not really. For now, I'm kind of stuck with it."  
He paused, trying to choosing his next signs. "I just moved out on my own a year ago, and came here. This place was the only place that would hire me. Guess my resume just isn't that impressive. But I hope to get a different job one day. I'm still figuring out what it'll be, but I'll get there."  
The yeti watched and listened, doing her best to understand. Then another yeti called to her. Dallin waved as she left. "Nice talking to you!" Then he began to make his way home.

He passed yetis and humans alike, all happy, all excited. He waved to them as he passed.  
Suddenly, he turned and was greeted with a grinning face, right in his face. Even as he flinched, he recognized him as Dr. Seth Laker, the other celebrity of the city. He was a young protege, not much older than Dallin, known for accidentally inventing things that seemed impossible. He was also known for being very easily distracted.

"Hey there!" Dr. Laker said, displaying his usual cheery enthusiasm.  
"Oh, uh, hi Dr. Laker." Dallin greeted, taken aback. He had never met Laker personally.  
"Quick! You up for helping me test something?" Dr. Laker asked, wide-eyed.  
"Uh, what?"  
"Here. This is a prototype of my current project." Dr. Laker held up a black oddly shaped device. Dallin took it, curious. "What does it do?"

Dr. Laker put his hands on Dallin's shoulders as if they were old friends. "Hopefully, it will better our communication with our new yeti friends. A sort of empathy device."  
"Empathy?"  
"Yep. Since the yetis growl to respond to us, I figured they don't use words like we use. Yet when they growl at each other, they seem to understand what each other means. I'm attempting to replicate it, but I need someone to help me test it. I just gave the other device to a yeti I came across, and told him to wait while I found someone to help me."

This is all very sudden.  
"Well, I don't know how helpful I'll be, but I guess can try."  
"Good good! Follow me!" Dr. Laker took off at a run. Dallin shook his head and ran after him along the street.  
A couple of times, he almost lost him in his mad dash.

Around a turn. Then another. Then Dr. Laker skidded to a stop. Dallin almost ran into him. "Whoa!"  
"Augh, he's gone." Dr. Laker turned to him, disappointment clear. "He must not have understood."  
Dallin put his hands on his knees, breathing. "Well, he's probably still around."  
"Yes, with my prototype. Wait here. I'll go look around."

Dallin sighed and sat down on the sidewalk, inspecting the device. "You're a very peculiar guy, Dr. Laker." He mumbled out loud.

* * *

Peculiar indeed. Time passed with no sign of Dr. Laker. _Guess I should just return his empathy device and go home._  
Dallin stood and headed in the direction he had gone, until he was close to the main group on the edge of the city.

The big purple and curly furred yeti was looking at a neon sign outside a building. Dallin waved, getting his attention.  
"Hi! Do you know where Dr. Laker is? Uh, you know, he has red hair…"  
He touched the red part of his shoe then his own hair. "Have you seen him?"  
The yeti raised an eyebrow and pointed towards Percy Patterson, on his yeti's shoulder.  
"Yeah, he does have red hair. But I'm looking for someone else with redder hair. More red." He signed as well as he could, but he was sure he was only confusing the poor yeti further.  
"Never mind. I'll find him."

But he didn't. Dr. Laker had disappeared. And forgotten his empathy device.  
Dallin asked a few more yetis, but none of them had seen him. He looked at the device in his hand. He would have to give it back to Dr. Laker tomorrow. He would surely be out with the yetis again.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Dallin once again headed for home.


	2. Chapter 2

Dallin slowly blinked open his eyes. Something was different, he could tell even in his drowsy state. Why did his room look so weird?

He sat up, confused. Light filtered in through a cloth covered window, rays revealing...what was all this? 

Confusion turned to panic. This was _not_ his room at all!

Dallin rolled off the bed, onto a floor made of ice, scrambling to his feet. His suddenly very large, and furry feet! He stared down in dismay at himself. His entire body was covered in thick tan and brown fur, and his hands had darkened to a blue black.

_What?_

Dallin gasped for breath as he tried to make sense of this. It had to be a dream. But it felt terrifyingly real. How could he wake up?

He ran shaking hands through the fur on his arms as he looked around the room. It was like no room he'd ever seen. More like an icy cave, with rock decorations and….was that a _snail_ glowing on the wall?

Dallin backed up, until he felt something solid block him.

Turning his head, he caught sight of what appeared to be some sort of mirror. He willed himself towards it, but closed his eyes, afraid to look. What had he turned into?

 _Breathe._ He told himself. _You can figure this out._

Taking a deep breath, he let himself look.

And froze.

He was a _yeti._ He had fur. He had horns, one of them crooked. He felt the sides of his head, and sure enough, he could feel them there.

This was not possible. But here he was. Wherever here was….

 _Where am I? Is it…._ If he was a yeti, he had some idea of where he could be. _No way..._

Dallin peeked out of the room, into similar looking hallways leading to other rooms. Seeing no one, he sprinted through. There. That door led outside.

In a burst of surprising speed, Dallin burst outside, and slipped, landing on his behind. Looking up, he felt his heart drop to his oversized feet.

Of course. The yeti village. How had he gotten here? 

It looked just like Percy Patterson had described, with tall rock and ice structures everywhere. From there, Dallin could see the huge sculpture of a yeti face, obviously the leader's palace.

Yetis were everywhere, running around, and talking. Children played. Some were building things, obviously inspired by their human friends. A few nearby were eating what appeared to be some kind of rock fruit.

But what shocked him even more was that they were speaking in words instead of growling.

"Yes, like this." He heard.

"Could you hand me one of the blue ones?"

"How did you do that?" 

Dallin could only sit and stare as the new surroundings flooded his senses, making him feel closed in. Could dreams be this realistic?

"Fleem? What are you doing?" A new voice came from much closer.

Dallin spun to face it, pushing himself to his feet. This was one of the yetis who always hung around Percy Patterson's yeti. She wore a straight tall ponytail on top of her head. And now, she was walking towards him, thinking he was a yeti, and she didn't look happy.

Panic sized Dallin, and without another thought, he turned tail and ran.

"Fleem!" The yeti called after him. Other voices joined her, and Dallin didn't need to look back to know they were chasing him.

_No! I'm not Fleem!_

Other yetis turned in surprise as he shot past, heading for the big archway. That had to be the way out.

The group of yetis behind him continued yelling, calling him Fleem and telling him to wait.

"Leave me alone!" He cried with a voice that wasn't his as he ran through the arch, into the snowy wilderness outside the village.

The ground sloped downwards, and Dallin started slipping. Yelping, he fought to right himself, but it only made it worse. He lost his footing, and tumbled head over heels down the rocky and snowy curve. The voices began to catch up.

The moment Dallin felt the ground even out, he was back on his feet and running again, incredibly more resilient as a yeti. But he didn't have time to give it much thought. The yetis behind him were still catching up! After all, they were all far bigger and faster than him!

Suddenly the snow turned to ice under him, and Dallin fell and slid some more.

_No no no!_

"Fleem, stop!" The yeti called again.

Dallin pushed against the ice with his hands, trying to slow himself. He managed to somewhat get control of himself, even as he continued to slide forward.

"Whoa!" He yelped as his foot suddenly met empty air, revealing an ice cliff with the farthest drop he had ever seen. He scrabbled to get a grip on the rocks as his body slid over the side.

He should have been cleaning messes in the Yak Shack, not this! He was going to die, and no one would know what had happened!

Until a hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him right in the air, dangling over that long drop.

The yeti with the ponytail easily pulled him back up, and away from the cliff, keeping a tight grip.

"What happened?" She demanded, looking shocked. "Why are you running away?"

Dallin shook his head, still freaking out. He pulled at her hand, trying to get free. "Let go, please." He practically whimpered.

"Fleem, what's wrong with you today?" The yeti with the purple braid stepped closer. "It's _us._ "

"I'm not Fleem!" Dallin tried again to free his wrist, grunting with effort. The ponytail yeti was strong. "I don't know what's happening! I'm not Fleem. I'm not even a yeti!" 

He looked desperately up at her face. "So how am I a yeti?" He had to ask for his own sake.

All the yetis were staring at him as if he had grown a second head. Dallin's heart sank. They didn't believe him. 

But in her surprise, the yeti with a ponytail loosened her grip. He finally ripped his wrist free and backed up.

"I'm telling the truth!" He glanced from one yeti to another.

The group was completely focused on him, making him feel exposed and small. They slowly moved towards him. Dallin backed up further. They followed. He moved further back, never taking his eyes off them, until he backed into a rock.

"Fleem, calm down." The ponytail yeti urged calmly. Dallin risked looking away for a second to duck behind the rock.

"We'll figure this out." soothed the curly purple yeti.

"Come out." said the yeti Dallin recognized as Percy Patterson's friend.

Dallin took deep shaky breaths, doing his best to calm down. Yetis were friends. He had talked to them, as a human. He had no reason to run from them. In fact, he suspected they were going to be his only hope of getting back to home. To his...body.

Yet he still found himself crouching behind the rock, hiding from them.

He turned around, putting his back to it, and took in the icy view of the top of the mountain while he tried to breathe. It all looked and felt too real to be a dream. But then, what explanation was there, for the fact that he was in a yeti's body? Where was his _real_ body?

The ponytail yeti appeared around the side. "Fleem?"

Dallin forced himself to stay down, reminding himself that he had no reason to run from her. She crouched next to him, looking him in the eyes. Her expression was gentle. "Come with us to the headquarters, and we can talk this out. Okay?"

Dallin tried to relax his stiff muscles as the other yetis came behind her, still looking confused.

Hope flared in his chest. Maybe he could convince them of his predicament? Surely they would realize how different he was from the real Fleem.

He flinched as the ponytail yeti took his arm, gentler this time, and pulled him to his feet.

"C'mon." She gestured towards wherever these yetis planned to take him.

Dallin shakily nodded, and let her lead him away, hoping he wouldn't mess this up.

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem woke up with a start. Something had brushed against him. Odd. He was a light sleeper, but not this light…..

There was something on top of him! Heart jolting, he thrashed around where he laid, kicking it off. He sat frozen, staring over the edge of the bed at the colored clumps of fabric now on the floor.

Where had those come from?

Wait, there were more on him! He shook himself, but these ones weren't coming off! They were almost perfectly formed to his body, white on his torso and shoulders, and black on his lower body.

Fleem yelped and he fell over the side of the bed, onto the pile he'd kicked off.

Where was his _fur?_

He held out his bare arms in shock. Under the black fabric, his legs were bare too, as were his feet, which appeared to have shrunk. 

Fleem stood, swaying and stumbling on the tiny things. Holding his arms to steady himself, he looked down at his body again.

It looked just like a smallfoot's body. The observation brought a gasp out of him. Was he going crazy?

"Kolka?" He called out, hoping for some confirmation that he was just seeing things. And feeling things. "Gwangi? Migo?"

He got no answer. No one else was there.

Where was 'there' anyway? It sure wasn't his village.

Fleem wobbled as he took a step back, then turned to look around the room he had woken up in. There was a big window, like in his bedroom. But the similarities ended there. Shelves and oddly colored furniture held a bunch of smallfoot things, only furthering his discomfort. 

_Surely I'm not…._

Spotting another room, he stumbled towards it, moving a little too fast. He tripped over his own feet, but caught himself on a small counter.

A shiny silver mirror sat on the wall in front of him, confirming his fear.

Fleem had somehow become a smallfoot.

"WHAT!?" He shouted at his reflection, needing to express his utter disbelief.

He ran his hands through the dark brown hair on his head, the closest thing he had to fur.

This had to be a trick. He hadn't even been in the smallfoot village since last night. His yeti body couldn't fit through the doors of their buildings. 

Besides, he knew everyone thought he was annoying. How many of them were all too willing to get him back?

"Okay, jokes over!" Fleem called out. "You can stop now!"

No one answered.

Frowning, he made his way around the edge of the tiny room he'd entered, leaning heavily on the counter and walls. There had to be a clue somewhere. 

A curtain sat at the end. Fleem quickly pulled it aside, but no one was hiding there. It was just a tub.

Next to it was something he'd never seen. What hung next to it was familiar though. The S.E.S had formerly called it 'The Scroll of Invisible Wisdom' before they'd learned how wrong they were. Fleem didn't have to think too hard to guess what this new thing was for. 

_Moving on._

Nothing hinted at a trick in this room. What about the other one? A little nervous, he leaned back, taking his weight from the counter in front of the mirror, and shifting it from foot to foot.

Okay. He was sure he'd gotten the hang of balancing on his smallfoot feet.

Fleem walked back into the room he'd woken up in, presumably a bedroom, and searched that one too. But all he saw were smallfoot things. He looked at the bed. It wasn't a rock, like his bed in the yeti village.

Curious, he climbed onto it, and stood. It wasn't that solid. His feet sank into it. Fleem bounced a bit, perplexed.

Was this really what smallfeet slept on?

He smirked, and began jumping up and down, feeling the soft material dip beneath his weight each time he landed.

How could something that wasn't solid be comfortable? He had to admit though, it was fun to jump on. 

He jumped higher, moving around the bed. He bounced the pillow off the edge, laughing. He jumped and landed on his back a few times.

After he'd had his fun, he took one last leap, straight up and off the bed, high above the floor. He landed as gracefully as his unaccustomed feet would allow, grinning wildly. Kolka would have rolled her eyes at his childishness. Did he care? No.

But in all seriousness, he had to keep looking around and find out what was going on.

Another smallfoot door indicated more to this house. 

Fleem fiddled with the handle until he figured out how to open it, and peeked through. A hallway, much like the one in his own home. At the end, a set of stairs led down to another two rooms.

He walked down carefully, in case he wasn't quite done growing into his tiny feet.

More unfamiliar smallfoot things were scattered all over the place.

"Hello?" Fleem didn't expect an answer, and got none. But surely something would tell him how he ended up here?

He chose one of the rooms, running his hands over everything.

He twisted things. He pulled things. He pushed things. But he couldn't tell what anything was.

He caught sight of a peculiar blocky looking thing, with handles sticking out. Fleem grabbed one and pulled it out. It was a knife.

Yetis used knives for cooking. This was a cooking room then. No clues here. Sighing, he slid the knife back into it's slit and moved on to the other room.

But he wasn't any more successful there. Many times he got distracted by his own curiosity, and played with some of the smallfoot things he found. But nothing answered the question of how he was a smallfoot in a smallfoot house.

He was no longer convinced it was a trick. No yeti could set this up. But there had to be something!

Crossing the room, Fleem looked out the window at the smallfoot village outside. It looked the same as it always did, just bigger.

And there were other smallfeet out there. One of _them_ had to know what had happened to him!

Fleem looked around and headed towards the only door he hadn't opened. It must have led outside.

He turned the handle and opened it, only to get hit by a blast of freezing cold air. Right. No fur.

He shivered as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He could never get used to living like this. The sooner he had his fur back, the better.

He shouted in pain at his first step onto the street. It was excruciatingly cold to his bare feet.

He had wondered before why smallfoot wore covers over their feet. Now he knew.

Shifting from one foot to the other, he didn't notice the smallfoot coming towards him until he bumped him with his shoulder.

"Watch out!" The smallfoot snapped, and kept going. No high pitched gibberish.

Fleem was too focused on his cold feet to react to him. He ran across the street, trying to keep from touching the ground as much as possible.

The biting wind only made things worse. 

Fleem shivered as he ran, his whole body chilled to the bone. He had to hurry and find someone who could help him. And he knew who.

Migo's smallfoot. He had to be here somewhere.


	3. Chapter 3

Dallin was still nervous as he followed the group of yetis towards their secret headquarters. How could he convince them he was a human in their yeti friend's body? He had gotten them to say their names, but even he knew just how crazy his claim sounded.

Cliff walls rose up on either side, guiding them along. Dallin looked around, reminded of the time he visited the Grand Canyon.

He'd been a human then. Not a freaking  _ yeti. _

Oh gosh, he couldn't stop thinking about it, or wrap his head around it. This just didn't happen to people!

The group ahead came to a stop in front of a dead end. Dallin frowned and looked around again. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

Once again, they all immediately looked at him like he'd said something really weird.

Kolka wordlessly pulled a rock, revealing a drawbridge like door in the cliff itself.

"Oh boy." Dallin muttered under his breath.

One by one, they filed into the secret cave, Meechee leading the way. Taking a breath, Dallin followed Migo in the rear, through a tunnel, until it opened into a larger room.

Gwangi clapped twice, and the weird glowing snails responded with many colored glows.

Dallin was distracted from the situation for a moment. The place could not have been more perfect for secret meetings. One of the walls had writings and drawings all over it, the biggest of the mountain. Another supported what looked like a fluffy hammock. A rock table sat in the middle.

"All right, Fleem. Tell us what's going on." Meechee looked at him expectantly, as did the others. Dallin ran his fingers restlessly through his fur, uncomfortable under the attention.

"Like I said, I'm not Fleem. I'm Dallin. I'm actually a human. But I woke up, and I was like this and…."

"Did you have a bad dream?" Kolka cut in.

Dallin shook his head. "No! No, I didn't have any dreams! I was in my bed at home last night, then I woke up here. That is, here in your village."

The yetis exchanged glances. They weren't buying it. 

"So, that means the real Fleem must be in mine!" Dallin continued quickly. "If  _ I'm _ in  _ his _ body, we probably switched, right?"

He flinched as Kolka reached out to feel his forehead, and ducked away. "No no no no, I'm not sick either! I feel fine, all things considered."

Gwangi leaned closer to him, looking thoughtful. "Did you hit your head at any point?"

Dallin fought the urge to back away. Gwangi still loomed over him, even though he was a yeti now. "No. I'm not hurt. I'm not sick. I'm not crazy. And I'm not Fleem! My name is Dallin, and I'm a human from the bottom of the mountain. You  _ have  _ to believe me!"

This got a reaction from the group. All of their eyes widened a bit as they exchanged more glances.

"You're saying….you're a smallfoot?" Migo asked.

_ Smallfoot? _

Dallin stared at him pleadingly. "Yes! If you're talking about the people from the city at the bottom of the mountain, then yes, that's what I'm saying."

Migo blinked, still looking confused. Was he starting to believe him?

"Ask me something! I can tell you about  _ your  _ friend from the hu--smallfoot village. His name is Percy, and he was the first of us to become friends with a yeti by visiting your village. He…"

He was cut off as his stomach growled loudly. The yetis relaxed, smiled at nodded at each other as if that explained everything. "Did you eat anything yesterday evening, Fleem?" Meechee sounded amused.

Taken aback, Dallin stuttered as he struggled to respond, feeling his cheeks get hot. "Uh...eh...well…."

Kolka shook her head with another smile. "Come on then." And with that, the group headed for the entrance.

"Wait." Dallin's call was weak. He forced down his desperation. He  _ was  _ hungry. Maybe he should just go along for now, and think of another way to convince them.

He followed them back out into the snow, between the cliffs, towards the village.

The walk felt a lot longer now that he wasn't being chased. He trudged through the snow in silence, watching his feet. They acted a lot like snowshoes in the spots with thicker snow.

_ Handy. _

Finally, they passed under the archway, back into the busy village.

Dallin, calmer this time, took in the details with wonder. He could see mammoths, just like Percy Patterson had said, more glowing snails, and yetis playing games suspiciously similar to human games, such as soccer, basketball and bowling.

Distracted, Dallin walked right into Kolka, who had stopped. "There. Breakfast is served."

In front of them was a market style stand and canopy, with some of the rock fruits he had seen earlier. To the side, he saw a yeti crack one open by banging it against his head.

_ I can't do that. _

Luckily he didn't have too. "Here you go." Kolka handed him a half of a fruit, green on the inside.

Dallin inspected it curiously. It looked like no fruit he had ever seen. He looked back up at Kolka. "Do you have a spoon?" He asked softly. It seemed almost everything he said was the wrong thing.

And this was too. "Fleem." She rolled her eyes at him with a sigh.

Dallin looked back at the other yeti eating fruit. He had shoved his face into one of his halves, eating without utensils. Migo, Meechee and Gwangi were too.

Kolka watched him, obviously expecting him to do the same.

Sighing, he shoved his face into the fruit, feeling the juice seep into the fur on his face. It tasted sweet, much like a watermelon.

"There. Better?" Kolka said with satisfaction.

Dallin just sighed again, and nodded. "Mmhmm."

Kolka finally helped herself to her own fruit.

This was going to be hard. What could Dallin possibly say that could convince them? He was at a loss.

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem was hopelessly lost.

As he ran through the streets, looking for any sign of the red coated smallfoot, his stress and desperation only grew and grew.

His smallfoot body couldn't run nearly as fast as his yeti body, and it couldn't handle the cold  _ at all. _

He glanced around in anxiety at all the brightly colored lights and signs on the buildings. They all looked the same to him. He was trapped in a never ending labyrinth of light, unfamiliar structures and stone streets!

How was he going to find one smallfoot in all of this?

He got weird looks from many of the smallfeet he passed. Not too long ago, the yetis in his own village had looked at him like that too. But that had been for questioning the stones. He didn't recognize anyone here, so why were they staring at him? He looked just like one of them, didn't he? He thought with frustration.

Thinking he'd caught a glimpse of red, Fleem stopped to look around again, frantic. The cold was killing him! "SMALLFOOT!" He shouted, unsure what else to do. It wasn't like he could just ask where Migo's smallfoot was. He didn't even know his real name. But his shout only got him more unwanted attention.

With a loud groan, Fleem took off again. Was it possible he could get back to the house he had woken up in? It was warm in there. He could try to figure out a better plan.

He glanced around at the buildings again. Not a chance. He was way too lost.

As he made yet another turn, he had to slow down. He was getting out of breath, and the extra wind created by his running only made him more cold.

Stopping, he put his hands on his knees and gasped, feeling his heart race.

The ground was still way too cold for him to stand in one spot, so he let himself sink to the ground, pulling his knees to his chest and trembled rather than shivered. How did smallfeet  _ live  _ like this!?

It. Was. SO. COLD. Fleem whimpered. There was no way to escape it.

"Dallin?" He whipped his head up as a smallfoot approached him. Hope replaced some of his desperation. He stood up, shifting from foot to foot.

"What in the world are you doing?" The smallfoot looked him up and down. "Why are you wearing a t-shirt? Where's your coat?" He frowned at Fleem's reddened feet. "And your shoes? Are you crazy?"

Fleem didn't know what to respond with. It felt weird to be having an actual conversation with a smallfoot. That made it hard enough. But in general, he wasn't good at talking to people. This time, he had to think carefully about his words.

"It's….been a weird day." He mumbled.

The smallfoot tilted his head. "Why are you over here anyway? Shouldn't you be at work?"

_ Work. Work! A lead! Maybe Smallfoot works there too! _

"Yes, I should! Where do I work?" Fleem continued to dance on his feet, knowing full well it had to be hard to take him seriously.

The smallfoot raised an eyebrow. "Dallin? You're acting weird. Are you feeling alright?"

"Never better!" Fleem answered quickly. "I'm just lost. Very, very lost. Don't ask me how. Like I said, it's been a weird day." He grinned, showing his perfect smallfoot teeth, but it felt exaggerated and unnatural.

The smallfoot stared at him for a moment, then just shook his head with a sigh. "I'm not sure I even want to know. C'mon then. You're not far from the Yak Shack. You'd better get inside before you freeze to death."

Fleem almost laughed in pure relief. Finally, he was going to be warm! He followed the smallfoot closely, not wanting any chance of losing him.

But as he'd said, they were close to Fleem's supposed 'work'. He didn't need to worry about that.

They came out of the cluster of buildings, and Fleem recognized the place his village always came to to meet with the smallfeet. He took a deep breath.  _ Sweet freedom! _

"Over here, Dallin." The smallfoot said, bringing him back to the present. "The Yak Shack. You clean stuff, and sometimes run the counter. Got it?"

Fleem was about to ask what 'running the counter' meant, but another smallfoot opened the door to the 'Yak Shack', looking right at him.

"Dallin! Where have you been? You're late! We've got a bunch of spills, and we're a little understaffed." He gestured quickly for Fleem to get inside.

He did so, sighing in relief as warm air flooded over his whole body. He flexed his numb limbs, fingers and toes, trying to coax feeling back into them while he looked around for Migo's smallfoot. Was he here?

"Dallin! Over here, now!" Fleem shook his head, bringing his attention back. Right. As of now, he was Dallin, not Fleem. He could keep an eye out for Smallfoot while he worked.  _ Probably best not to get on these smallfeets' bad sides.  _ He needed allies, not enemies.

One of them pushed a strange sort of cart towards him, with a pole sticking out. He lifted it out curiously, noting the cleaning brush on the tip.

Fleem sighed heavily. He was experiencing the worst crisis of his entire life, and he was stuck doing  _ chores?  _

He scowled as he plopped it onto the floor, beginning his work.  _ This is going to be a  _ very  _ long day. _


	4. Chapter 4

Along with everyone else, Dallin rubbed some snow onto his face to wash away the fruit juice. 

Now that he wasn't hungry anymore, he did feel a little better. But the same problem remained. Somehow, he had to convince these yetis that he wasn't Fleem, so they could help him find out how to get back to his body.

He glanced at each of them as they washed off their own faces. There had to be a way to  _ prove  _ he wasn't Fleem.

_ Hmm, maybe…. _

The group finished up and began walking away, Kolka gesturing for him to follow. Dallin jogged to walk beside her, trying to work up the courage to bring the subject back up.

He forced himself to take a deep breath. "I'm still not Fleem." He cursed his voice for sounding so timid.

Expressions dropped, and Kolka sighed in frustration. "Fleem…."

Dallin ran ahead to face the group, bringing them all to a halt. "Look at me! I am  _ not  _ messing around! I-I can prove it! Ask me something Fleem wouldn't know!"

This brought a pause to the yetis. They glanced at each other, then back at him. Meechee nodded. "All right, then. Who was the first Smallfoot I talked to when our villages first made contact?"

Dallin thought back, heart racing. He had been there. He remembered that day as if it had been yesterday. He had seen the first spoken connections made between yeti and human….

"Brenda!" He grinned triumphantly. Meechee blinked as if she hadn't expected an answer. "Brenda was the first hu...smallfoot you talked to. She's Percy's assistant and friend. When Percy vouched for you, she came out and stood with him. Remember?"

The baffled look on their faces gave him hope.

Gwangi narrowed his eyes, leaning closer. "How about me?"

Dallin paused to think. "I think his name's George. A pilot." At some confused looks, he continued, "He flies planes. The big metal flying things. He was still wearing his helmet when you came down the mountain."

Without waiting for another question, Dallin looked at Kolka. "And I think I saw you talking to Jen just yesterday. She has black hair, about this long. I didn't see if she was the first smallfoot you ever talked to though."

The entire group had frozen, all four pairs of eyes fixed solidly on Dallin. He had their attention, at least.  _ Good good. _

Slowly, as if in a trance, Meechee turned to face the others. "I think we'd better have another meeting." They nodded in agreement.

Dallin smiled. Now he was getting somewhere! But…

"Shouldn't we be talking to your leader? Cause this is  _ huge,  _ right?"

Meechee glanced at the big yeti leader, standing by the palace. "Meechee!" He called. "I need to talk to you!"

"One thing at a time. I don't think we're at that point yet." She turned her attention to the other yetis. "Okay, S.E.S. Scatter, and make your way to headquarters. I'll meet you there as soon as I can." She turned and made her way to the leader.

Gwangi, Migo and Kolka split up, leaving Dallin standing confused and alone. Kolka glanced back at him, and gestured for him to follow her.

"Do you remember the way to headquarters?" She hissed quietly to him.

Dallin shook his head. 

"Come with me, then. Try to act natural."

_ How do I do that? I'm not exactly feeling natural at the moment. _

But he nodded and followed Kolka, trying to mirror her actions. He smiled when she smiled. Waved when she waved. Tried with difficulty to imitate her confident stride, with legs shorter than hers.

The two made their way around the village, back through the archway and down the slope. Kolka dropped the act as soon as they were out of sight, speeding up determinedly. Dallin had to jog to keep up. The cliff walls came into sight, and then the end with it's secret entrance.

For the second time that day, Dallin passed through the tunnel into the cave of secret meetings. Looking up curiously, he clapped his hands twice as Gwangi had, and smiled when the snails glowed in response.

Migo was already there. Gwangi wasn't far behind them, and surprisingly, Meechee wasn't either.

All assembled, Dallin once again became the center of attention. 

"All right, I have to admit, that was freaky." Migo spoke first.

Gwangi nodded. "Mmhmm."

"But it  _ can't _ be possible for a smallfoot and a yeti to switch bodies." Kolka frowned. "Can it?"

Dallin inspected the fur on one of his arms. "I didn't think it was. But here I am anyway."

Kolka looked absolutely baffled. "Then answer some more questions. Tell us things we don't know about smallfeet."

Dallin tried to think. "Um..what do you want to know?"

Meechee and Kolka nodded to Gwangi, who nodded back and walked to a corner of the room. He came back with a handful of things, and put them on the stone table, gesturing for everyone to gather around.

"Tell us what all of these are." He looked right at Dallin.

Dallin looked at the human things scattered on the table. This would be easy. He picked up the nearest one. "This is a ski pole. When you're skiing, you'll have two of them, and two boards for your feet, and you slide down hills. I've been a couple of times. It's fun."

"What about this?" Gwangi pointed. 

"That's a thermos. You put hot drinks in there, and it keeps them hot."

"Hot drinks?"

Dallin shrugged. "It helps with the cold. Climbers often have them." Gwangi and Kolka glanced at each other, bafflement growing.

"What about this?" Kolka picked it up and held it towards him. Dallin took it, and looked it over. "It's an oxygen can. Smallfeet use these when they climb up to really really high places, where the air is thinner. It's hard to breathe up here." He looked meaningfully at Migo, who probably knew a thing or two about that. Migo cleared his throat and looked away.

"And this?" Meechee picked up a boot. "Why do smallfeet always wear these on their feet?"

Dallin took it, marveling at how small it was in his bigger hands. It was easy to understand why yetis called humans 'smallfeet' by looking at it.

"It's a boot. This one in particular is useful for walking through snow."

"This one? There are other kinds?" Meechee's curiosity was piqued.

"Yeah, lots of different kinds. But here in the cold and snow, you'll see mostly boots."

"Must be hard not having fur." Meechee said, obviously trying to hide amusement. "You get cold feet?"

At the pun, he looked back up at Meechee with a flat look. "That, and it hurts! Our feet aren't anywhere near as tough as yours. Without fur, we feel  _ everything."  _

Dallin looked back down at the items, spotting a coat. He grabbed it and held it up. "So we make do by bundling up."

Kolka was watching him in silence, shaking her head in disbelief. "Oh my, it really is true, isn't it?" She was obviously referring to his predicament. Dallin felt a surge of triumph.

"Holy wowness." Migo whispered. Gwangi was stunned into silence.

The group then grew worried. "So where's Fleem?" Meechee looked at Dallin, hoping for an answer.

"Probably in my body, at my house. Think he got as much of a shock as I did?"

The S.E.S muttered to each other, trying to make sense of what had just been confirmed.

_ Well, I did it. I convinced them. Now what? _

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem was feeling more than a little grumpy, to say the least. He had been stuck working for hours, and he hadn't seen any sign of Migo's smallfoot.

The three smallfeet who had put him to work were insufferably bossy, they dumped more on him right in the middle of a job, and it was obvious they were just making him do the things they didn't want to do!

Even though they thought he was annoying, and maybe snapped at him at times, the S.E.S had never treated him like this.

He stood at a 'sink', washing dishes. He swabbed out a glass with a towel, still scowling. Hardly any smallfeet came in this back room, so Smallfoot probably wasn't going to. 

This was ridiculous! He should have been finding out how to get back to being a yeti, not doing other peoples' work.

His mood became worse when one of the bossy smallfeet walked over, and carelessly dumped a huge handful of dishes into the sink again, splashing water all over him.

Fleem fought the urge to growl. "When do I get to run the counter?" He called after the smallfoot as he left. That job had to be an improvement.

The smallfoot looked back to grin at him. "When I say so. And I don't say so. Get back to work, boy. There's much to do."

After he was gone, Fleem did growl.

_ Just you wait until I'm a yeti again…. _

By now, he was sopping wet, his white and black fabrics clinging to his body and making him even more uncomfortable. But even if he knew how to get them off, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. He'd drawn enough attention to himself. So he bore it silently, and began to dry the glass, now wet again.

He set it aside, and reached for a plate, scrubbing at the crusty spots. Through all this boring work, he had to keep wondering, how did he get himself into this? Just yesterday, nothing had been out of the ordinary. He had gone up the mountain with his village. He had gone to bed. 

The next thing he knew,  _ this _ had happened. He was cold, lost, hungry and confused. He was experiencing things no yeti should have to.

What if he couldn't get back to his body? What if he was stuck like this, forever? The idea was horrifying.

_ No! Migo's smallfoot will help me! There has to be a way! _

A string of curses sounded from the other room with the tables. The bossy smallfeet.  _ Oh great, what now? _

"Dallin!" A voice shouted a moment later. "Get out here!"

Fleem groaned and put down the plate and towel.  _ Here we go again. _

He was greeted with the biggest mess yet. A pitcher's worth of red liquid created a huge puddle on the floor. Plates sat face down, covering their own messes. 

One of the bossy smallfeet looked up as he appeared. "Here. Take care of this." She pushed the red stained 'mop' cart towards him, making him sigh.

At least she left afterwards, leading away the culprits, so he had a few less people to stare at him.

The mop made a  _ splat  _ sound as he slapped it onto the floor, adding water to the spill.

He worked in silence for a bit, wishing people would stop looking at him. For some reason, he seemed to be a magnet for attention, wherever he went.

"What's going on, Dallin?" asked the bossy smallfoot running the counter. "You seem a little upset today."

_ Really? I hadn't noticed. _ Out loud, Fleem just responded with a "hmph."

"Is it related to the fact that you came to work dressed like that? Why  _ did  _ you come to work dressed like that?"

Fleem shoved the mop roughly back in the cart to soak. "Hmph."

The smallfoot smiled, and came around the counter, walking over to him. "Aww, c'mon, don't be like that."

Fleem turned away, continuing his work.

"You're probably tired, then. Is that it? That's a pretty big mess you're stuck with."

Fleem grunted.

The bossy smallfoot put a hand on his shoulder, making him tense. "Eh, don't worry, kid. Just two more hours, and you'll be free to do whatever you do after work. Hang in there." He gave Fleem's shoulder a pat and returned to the counter.

Two hours? How could he last another two hours in this prison? He wanted his body back  _ now!  _ He was supposed to be looking for help!

Fleem brushed off his shoulder and grumbled under his breath as he mopped more aggressively.

The bossy smallfoot laughed. "Gotta hate those wine spills, right? I've cleaned a fair number of them myself. Not that great."

Fleem wished he would stop talking.

He, and the crowd heading for the door from outside. Great. More people to make more messes for him to clean up. He glanced idly up as the door opened, making way for at least eight smallfeet.

Then he saw him. Migo's smallfoot came in the door, talking to the green coated one he was always seen with. Fleem froze in his work.

By a sheer stroke of luck, he was here! 

"See something interesting, boy?" The bossy smallfoot at the counter stopped him from bolting straight towards him right then.

Fleem quietly growled in frustration. That would be a problem. He continued mopping, watching the red coated smallfoot through the corner of his eye as he sat down with his friend at a table.

How could he get over there without the bossy smallfeet getting on his case? That smallfoot could be the key to getting out of this mess!

He kept an eye out for an opportunity. A small crowd stood for a moment in between him and the bossy smallfoot. He almost went for it, but another of the bossy smallfeet walked past on the other side, stopping to talk to Migo's smallfoot.

Fleem huffed and bent down to pick up another plate, pretending that he wasn't distracted from his work.

No opportunities came. Fleem silently willed him or his friend to make a mess, so he could have an excuse to get his attention. But neither of them did.

His heart began to race when they stood up, and began to walk back towards the door.

_ No no no!  _ There was no telling when Fleem would find him again if he got away!

"Hey, did you hear that?" He said loudly, thinking quickly. The smallfoot at the counter looked at him. "Hmm?"

"Did you hear that? I think something happened in the other room."

He anxiously glanced at the door, pretending to be busy. Migo's smallfoot was outside now.

To his blessed relief, the smallfoot who had called him to this mess started cursing again, in the other room. "Maybe she needs some help." He offered.

_ Hurry! _

The smallfoot frowned at the door, then walked over, peeking into the other room.

It was all Fleem needed.

Abandoning the mop in the cart, he took off, straight for the door. He cringed at the idea of going back into the cold, but if Migo's smallfoot got away, who knows how long he would be stuck here!

He bumped into a smallfoot, getting an 'oomph' from both of them. It was Smallfoot's friend! Maybe he was still there!

"Sorry." She muttered and went back through the door into the Yak Shack.

Fleem ran outside, looking around wildly. Again, the cold hit him like a blast, made even worse by his wet fabrics, and the snow burned his feet like fire. His eyes went right to a red coat, just over there. But he was walking away!

There was no more time to wait or think. Fleem ran straight towards him, urgency lending him speed. "Wait!" He shouted. In his mad dash, he didn't even register Smallfoot's surprised glance over his shoulder.

Fleem barreled into him, practically tackling him, and the two went down in a panicked mass of struggling limbs.

Migo's smallfoot shouted in alarm and struggled to push him off.

Finally bursting apart, Fleem and Smallfoot stared at each other in a stunned silence before scrambling to their feet.

Smallfoot took a step back, preparing to run.

"No!" Fleem leaped forward and grabbed his shoulders. "No, don't leave. I've been looking for you…."

Smallfoot pushed back on Fleem's shoulders, still looking alarmed. "Let me go! What do you think you're doing?"

"I need your help!" Fleem tightened his grip, looking at him pleadingly. 

Smallfoot paused. "What?"

"I  _ really  _ need your help, and I think you're the only one who can." Fleem winced at the cold and began dancing from foot to foot again.

Smallfoot stared at him, alarm being replaced with curiosity.

"Hey! What are you doing? Get off him!" Fleem let go and turned in alarm. Smallfoot's friend was back, glaring furiously at him.

"Brenda, it's okay." reassured Smallfoot.

Brenda didn't let up her suspicion. "What is he doing?"

"He says he needs my help." Smallfoot looked back at Fleem expectantly.

Fleem nodded vigorously. "Yes. I…" He realized then that he'd thought very little about how he was going to explain his predicament.

"Uhh….I'm a yeti." His words came out all wrong. "But I've been turned into a smallfoot, and I don't know how. I woke up like this."

The two smallfeet looked at him like he was crazy.

He hugged himself as a chill blew over them. His feet burned with cold, making him shift from one to the other, back and forth faster, and robbing him of all his dignity.

_ This is torture! _

"Ah, ah, ah, I know it sounds crazy. But it's true! You know me. You were the one Migo brought up the mountain to our village."

Smallfoot watched him dance, obviously not buying it. "Wait. You're telling me, that you're one of the yetis from that mountain, but you've magically turned into a….human?"

'Brenda' shook her head. "C'mon Percy. Let's go. We're wasting our time."

'Percy' hesitated, then nodded and the two began to walk away, towards two of their weird loud transportation things. Fleem's heart raced faster. How could he prove it? He thought frantically for something.

"You almost died when Migo betrayed you." He blurted out, unsure what made him think of it. Percy froze in his tracks. "What?"

"You were dying on top of the mountain. You couldn't breathe. Then Migo lied, and he gave you to the Stonekeeper."

Percy turned to face him looking shocked. "I didn't tell anyone about that. I always left it out of the story."

"Percy?" Brenda looked surprised.

Percy glanced at her. "It's true. I was put in an ice box, and I was sure I was going to die. But I've never told anyone that my yeti friend had any part in it. I wanted to believe that he had a good reason for it."

Fleem quit dancing from foot to foot, and instead hopped on one. "You didn't need to tell anyone. I was there. I saw it all. My name is Fleem. In fact, you know me already. I was one of the first yetis you met on the mountain."

Percy took a step closer, narrowing his eyes. "Which one?"

Fleem hesitated.  _ Don't make me say it. _

"I was next to Migo. Uh, he's  _ your  _ friend. Don't you remember?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Uhh…"

"Tan fur, hair this long?" 

Percy slowly shook his head.

Fleem rolled his eyes. "The  _ short  _ one! There, I said it!"

Percy blinked, and remembrance flickered in his eyes.

"Remember now?"

Percy nodded, and an uncomfortable look flashed across his face. He took a step back. "Yeah. I remember you."

Brenda frowned. "You believe him?"

Percy glanced at her warily. "No one could have known that detail I left out unless they were there. I was the only human there, and I've told no one."

Hope filled Fleem. Everything would soon go back to normal. "Please, help me."

Percy looked back at Fleem, still hopping. "I think you'd better get on."

Fleem frowned. "Get on what?"

Percy pointed towards his sliding bike thing. 

_ Oh. _

The thought made him uncomfortable. But what else could he do? He couldn't stay here. Slowly walking across the snow, he stepped up and eased himself onto the back.

He had yet to determine if it felt secure or not.

Percy climbed on in front of him, feeling just as nervous. The thing roared to life suddenly, making Fleem jump.

He grabbed Percy around his middle, for lack of anything else to hold on to. If it made Percy uncomfortable, he didn't show it.

Brenda got on the other one, and Fleem flinched again as it turned on.

Then they were moving along the street.

Fleem squeezed his eyes shut as they sped up.

This was going to take some getting used to. But at least now, he wasn't alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Dallin sat on the stone table while the yetis paced all in different places and directions, all trying to piece things together. None of them thought they'd ever have to deal with a situation like this.

"Okay, I think the first question we need an answer to is  _ how. "  _ Meechee thought out loud. "If we find out how this happened, maybe we can find a way to reverse it."

Dallin nodded.

Meechee stopped in front of him and looked him in the eyes. "What do you remember from before you woke up as Fleem?"

Dallin shrugged. "I just went to bed. Nothing unusual happened."

"What about  _ before  _ that?"

"Uhh, I don't know. It was just like any normal day."

Kolka came up beside Meechee. "It couldn't have been  _ that  _ normal. Think! What were you doing, while we were down there?"

Gwangi appeared on Meechee's other side, and Migo stood next to him. "Who did you talk to? Where did you go? Did you touch or see anything different?" Questions came from all sides, boxing Dallin in.

He glanced in every direction, trying to focus.

"I went to work." He offered helplessly. "You were all there when I came out."

"Then?" Meechee's gaze was intense.

Dallin shrugged again. "I think I talked to a yeti."

"Who?"

"I don't know! I'm not super close to any yeti. I usually just talk with them for a bit when they stop to say 'hi', and then I go home."

"That's all?" Kolka leaned closer with a frown.

"Yeah, I….wait, no, I met someone on the way home." Suddenly, everything clicked. "Dr. Laker!"

His sudden excitement made the yetis perk up even more, if that were possible.

"His project! He built a device that was supposed to help us improve our communication!"

Gwangi leaned closer to Dallin's level. "How was it supposed to do that?"

"I'm not sure exactly. But Dr. Laker said it was supposed to use empathy to help us understand what each other  _ means,  _ I guess."

He smiled sheepishly, looking down at his body. "I don't think this is what he had in mind, though."

Meechee gave a soft chuckle. "So, can this device be used to switch you back?"

Dallin sighed and stood up from the table. "I hope so. I  _ really  _ do."

"How does it work?" Kolka asked.

Dallin shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure. Dr. Laker gave it to me, and asked me to help him test it. But he got distracted and I couldn't find him. So I took it home, planning to give it back later, but…"

"Hmmm." said Gwangi.

"He also said he gave the other one to a yeti." continued Dallin. He grimaced. 

"Guess we now know who." muttered Kolka.

"Yeah. But I'm more interested in whether or not it's still where he put it." Dallin looked back at Meechee intently. "Did you see him take it anywhere?"

Meechee shook her head, looking troubled. "I didn't notice him holding anything. The night was normal for us as well."

She glanced at Kolka, Gwangi and Migo, then back at Dallin. "We'll have to search his room. That's the most likely place for it."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"All right then. We'll get back into the village separately. I'd rather not have to explain this to my dad right now."

Meechee turned her attention to Dallin. "Fleem. Or, Dallin, you said it was?"

He nodded.

"You can come with me. We'll follow everyone else in a bit."

* * *

Back together, the five approached the house Dallin had woken up in. "You'd better go in first." said Meechee. "In case your mom is home."

Dallin snapped his head around to look at her. "My what?"

"Or,  _ Fleem's  _ mom. I don't think they see each other that often anymore. They've both kind of gone their separate ways. But it would make more sense for all of us to be there if you act like you've invited us."

Dallin nodded, still nervous. "Yeah. Right."

He moved to the front of the group and pushed aside the cloth door, peeking inside.

"I don't see anyone."

"Keep going." Kolka whispered.

Dallin forced himself forward. He didn't really want to run into a yeti who thought he was her son. It was just too weird. And he probably wouldn't do a very good impersonation.

He breathed a sigh of relief as silence greeted him. No one appeared to be inside.

"Okay, we're clear." Kolka pushed Dallin forward and towards a hallway. " _ Your  _ room is over here."

Dallin recognized it now. They passed through the hallway, and into one of the rooms.

The room he had woken up in a few hours before.

He resisted the urge to look at the mirror again. He wasn't sure he had quite come to terms with what had happened yet.

"All right, let's do this fast." said Meechee, bringing him back.

The group nodded and spread out as much as they could in the little room.

"What does it look like?" asked Migo.

Dallin looked back. "It's black, and it has a weird shape. You'll know it when you see it."

Along with everyone else, he searched through the decently cluttered floor, looked under furniture, and moved rocks.

Actually, pretty much everything was rock. And if it wasn't rock, it was ice.

Then he searched again. And again. Again, as time passed fruitlessly.

Dallin lightly pounded the wall in frustration. Where could Fleem possibly have hidden a distinct and unique object in such a small room? He'd been all over it, and there were no hints, no clues, nothing!

His companions obviously felt the same. They glanced at him with frustrated looks and kept going.

After what felt like an hour, everyone gathered together in the middle of the room.

"Okay, this isn't working. We need more information." Meechee looked at Dallin. "Is there  _ anything  _ you can think of that could help us find this device?"

Dallin looked down at his feet apologetically. "No. I've told you what it looks like, but that's all I can say until we know what Fleem did with it. Sorry."

The others let out slight groans as Meechee stepped back to think. "He went right to bed after we came up last night." She mumbled. "Where would he put it?" She hummed. "It's possible he could have still been holding it when he went to sleep…."

"We search the bed, then." Gwangi suggested. He crossed the room and pulled off the sheet of what must have been mammoth fur, exposing plain dark rock. He sighed. "Nothing."

Meechee walked over, looking over the surface. Her eyes went to the rock at the end, probably a yeti's version of a pillow.

She lifted it, and Dallin saw her straighten. "Oh. Is this it?"

She turned around, a black object in her hand.

Or rather, what was left of it. 

Dr. Laker obviously hadn't expected a yeti to put it under a rock. It was mostly destroyed, with a multitude of cracks and wires visible. 

Just looking at it made Dallin's heart jolt as much as if he had seen a bear. He closed his eyes, unable to look. What could they do  _ now? _

"It  _ was."  _ He responded with despair.

_ WHY, Fleem? _

"Don't freak out just yet." Kolka grabbed his shoulder reassuringly. "A few yetis have been trying to learn from the smallfeet about their advanced devices. We can see if any of them can fix it. We're not giving up."

The group voiced their agreement, but Dallin still didn't feel reassured.

_ Without this device, I'm stuck like this. _

* * *

**Fleem:**

Once Fleem had food in his hands, his hunger completely took over.

Percy had taken him to his home, and told him to sit on the couch while he got him something to eat, leaving him alone with Brenda. She still didn't believe Fleem's story, but she was nice enough. She'd gotten him a blanket to put around his shoulders, and asked him a few questions about his day until Percy came back with a bowl of something.

Fleem knew from both the smallfeets' looks that he wasn't supposed to eat it like it was a rock fruit, but he was too hungry to care.

And neither of them were saying anything, so, whatever.

As he finished up, Percy sat on the floor across from him, looking...stumped. That probably wasn't a good sign.

"So….Fleem. How in the world did…..cause….what?" Percy looked him up and down, at a loss for words.

Fleem sighed and set his bowl in his lap, wiping his face with an arm. "You sound as clueless as I feel."

"Because this doesn't happen! It isn't  _ possible."  _ Percy rubbed his eyes as if he were only seeing things.

Brenda, on his other side, rolled her eyes, her expression saying,  _ I could have told you that. _

"Well, it happened anyway. Now how do we undo it? I'm tired of being a smallfoot, and it's only been one day." Fleem wasn't quite sure what he was expecting. Percy couldn't magically change him back into a yeti.

"Smallfoot?" Percy raised a questioning eyebrow.

Fleem sighed. "That's what we call your kind."

Percy glanced self consciously at his feet, but before he could say anything, Fleem cut in. "Can we focus? You've invented a lot of things in your village here. Is there anything that can turn me back into a yeti?"

Percy started to shake his head but paused.

"How did you turn into a human in the first place?"

Fleem shrugged. "Heck if I know. I've been trying to figure that out from the moment I woke up. As a smallfoot."

Percy tilted his head a little. "Did you happen to run into a guy with red hair yesterday?"

Fleem looked pointedly at Percy's hair.

"Not me! A guy with redder hair than me."

Fleem nodded. "Yeah. He wouldn't stop jabbering. Then he gave me a weird thing and ran away.  _ He  _ was weird."

Both Percy and Brenda let out soft, 'ohhh's. Percy put his head in his hands. "Was he overly cheerful? With a ton of energy?"

"Huge understatement. But yeah."

Percy slowly looked back up at him. "Of course, if the impossible happens, it can be traced back to Dr. Laker."

"Oh boy." Brenda said, looking a little more serious now.

"You believe me  _ now?"  _ Fleem gave her a tiny smirk.

"Well, where Dr. Laker is involved, I've learned not to question things too much." Brenda stood and put a hand on her hip. "If anyone can turn a yeti into a human, it's him."

She looked back down at Percy. "I'm guessing we'll need that device he gave him in order to turn him back?"

Percy stood as well. "Probably." He turned to Fleem. "So where is it?"

Fleem paused. Had he seen it in the house he had woken up in? Had it been one of the many smallfoot things scattered around the place? It had to be there. Otherwise, he just didn't know.

"Uhhh…..I think it's in the house I magically appeared in."

Percy glanced at the window, as if he could see it from there.

"All right, guess we'd better start there. We'll find it, and take it to Dr. Laker. He should be able to, hopefully, change you back."

He scanned Fleem with his eyes again. "But first things first. You can't go out again like that."

Fleem looked down at his smallfoot body, then back at him. "Why? What's wrong with 'this'?"

Percy looked at him in disbelief. "You'll freeze! You've felt how cold it is out there! You don't have a coat, or even shoes!"

"Oh."

Percy gestured for Fleem to follow him. "Until you get your fur back, you're gonna have to take a few tips and tricks."

Fleem left his bowl on the couch, but pulled his blanket closer as he followed Percy down a hallway, to what he assumed was his bedroom. Percy opened a door, revealing a closet.

Fleem watched curiously, and a little suspiciously as he dug something out of it. 

Percy turned around, holding out a pair of smallfoot foot covers, and…

""What's that?" He pointed to the white fabric bundle.

"Socks." Percy smiled. "They'll help keep your feet warm. Put them on."

Fleem took the bundle and looked down at his feet, unsure what to do. He glanced uncertainly at Percy again before slowly sitting down on the floor, letting go of the blanket and trying to figure out how in the world this was supposed to go on his feet.

After a moment, Percy knelt down and pulled it apart, revealing two separate foot shaped fabric covers. Then, after watching him struggle for a moment, he sighed, took them back and pushed them onto Fleem's feet himself.

Fleem immediately fought the urge to pull them back off. They felt weird.

Percy pulled another fabric out of the closet. This one was green, and it had longer arms. Fleem stood up as he approached and backed up suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

Percy held it up. "This is a shirt. You wear it under your coat."

Fleem glared at him as he backed up further. "I don't need it."

"Trust me, it will help. Now hold still!"

One furious tussle later, with Percy proving to be the stronger of the two, Fleem had a baggy green layer on over his white layer. He tugged at the 'sleeves', irritated. It only added insult to injury that Fleem was now shorter and thinner than Percy.

Then Percy held up the foot covers again. "You're not going outside without these."

Fleem turned away from him. "Hmph."

But he let Percy shove them on, over the socks. "I swear, you're like a little kid." Percy muttered.

Fleem glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Percy shook his head with a sigh, and pulled Fleem to his feet, supporting him as he got used to his new foot covers. Fleem barely managed to snag his blanket from the floor.

"You know, I would never have come looking for you if I knew the torture you were going to put me through." Fleem said grumpily.

"Just come on." Percy took his arm and led him back to the other room, where Brenda still stood waiting.

"Right. Can we go now?" Fleem asked impatiently. He was even more done with all of this now.

"You still need a coat." Percy said warily. "I have an extra one. Wait here." He left Fleem with Brenda, who gave him a once over.

"What?" Fleem shifted self consciously from foot to foot.

Brenda smiled. "You have a lot to learn about humans." 

Fleem glared at his covered feet. "Yeah? Well right now, I'm learning things I didn't want to know."

Brenda folded her arms. "You'll thank Percy later."

Percy came back a moment later, with a blue coat much like his own. "Here. Are you going to put it on yourself this time?"

Fleem scowled and snatched it, grumbling to himself as he slid his arms into the sleeves. But something didn't feel right…..

Percy chuckled. "No, that's on backwards. Here. I'll help you."

Fleem sighed, resigned, and held up his arms so Percy could put the coat onto him, and zip it up. 

Percy and Brenda gave him a dissatisfied look. The coat was too big. Fleem held up an arm, frustrated with the too long sleeve that completely covered his hand, with extra to hang towards the floor. "Seriously?"

Percy gave him an apologetic look. "That's what I have. I don't know how old you are as a yeti, but this body is basically a teen, and you're a fair bit skinnier than me. You'll just have to deal with it."

Fleem groaned. "Fine. Let's go get this over with."

Fleem threw the blanket back over his now coated shoulders. Percy gave him a look, but let him keep it as he and Brenda led him outside, to their 'snowmobiles'.

Already, Fleem was grateful for the foot covers. He could walk on snow now without freezing his toes off.

Once again, Fleem got onto the back behind Percy.

"You'll have to direct me." reminded Percy.

Fleem looked around at the buildings, with their lights and height. They still all looked the same to him.

As Percy started his snowmobile, Fleem began to get a little worried. He wasn't entirely sure he could remember the way to the house. He didn't even get a good look at the outside before he took off.

Regardless, off they went. He would have to try.


	6. Chapter 6

Dallin didn't see how any yeti was going to be able to fix this thing. Even most of the human engineers and inventors would likely be stumped by the unique device. There was only one person who truly knew how it worked--or rather, how it was supposed to work.

After he recovered from his initial shock and could think clearly again, he knew Dr. Laker was their best bet.

But the yetis were adamant that they at least try.

He stood in the back corner of the building they'd gone to, watching this yeti fiddle with the device. The S.E.S gathered around his table, offering advice and support.

But what if he was only breaking it more? Dallin moaned softly, hoping he wasn't heard.

But Migo looked back at him, and moved to join him. "Cheer up, Dallin. We're doing all we can."

"Yeah, I know, but…."

He flinched as an ugly sound came from the device. "What happened?"

The yeti working on it shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've been learning a lot, but I've never seen anything like this. Maybe you should take it to Ed. He's better at this than me."

Meechee sighed and nodded. "Okay. Thanks for trying, anyway."

She picked up the device, and led the group back outside.

"Can we go see Dr. Laker now?" Dallin tried.

"Hold on. Ed might be able to help us." Meechee gave him a glance as they walked.

"But what if he can't? Dr. Laker is the one who built it! Surely he's the best equipped of anyone to fix it…"

"But it could really save us some time if we fix it first."

Dallin huffed. Arguing wasn't getting him anywhere. 

He suspected that deep down, the yetis were insisting on this out of curiosity rather than saving time. They were starting to realize that this situation offered a unique opportunity to answer questions that were hard to answer.

This was further reinforced by how much they had begun asking him about his life as a 'smallfoot.'

"Did 'Dr. Laker' build a lot of the devices you use in your village?" asked Migo.

"A fair number, I think."

"What about those shiny flying things?"

"Uh, the planes? No, I don't think so...he doesn't really do…"

He looked up as they approached another house, bigger than the last. "This is it?"

Migo smiled and nodded. "Yep!"

Dallin sighed as Meechee called to Ed through the door, asking for his help.

_ This is just a big waste of time.  _ He kept himself from saying the words aloud.

At one point or another, they had to realize that they weren't getting anywhere like this.

Migo looked at him again, noting his frustration. "Hey, how about I show you around the village? They'll probably be done by the time we get back."

Dallin watched the rest of the S.E.S follow Ed inside.  _ Might as well. Better than standing in the corner and stressing out. _

"I guess." He said out loud.

Migo smiled and gestured for him to follow, walking in the direction of the big ice palace.

At first, Dallin didn't really pay attention, shooting glances back in the direction of Ed's house, and wondering what state the device would be in when he next saw it.

But he had to admit that he was curious too.

He looked up at the giant yeti face in wonder. How had they built that? Did they have different tools? Was that actual glass in it's eye windows? 

Dallin looked up at Migo, who was talking. "This is where the Stonekeeper, Meechee, and her brother Thorp live."

"Meechee lives here?"

"Yep! It's the palace, where Stonekeepers have lived for generations." 

"What  _ is  _ a Stonekeeper?" Dallin asked.

Migo paused, looking a little uncomfortable. "Well, before we met you, we followed the Stones. They were like our laws. A Stonekeeper interpreted and enforced the Stones, so we would be safe."

"Really? What made you give them up?"

Migo seemed to shrink a little more. "Well, we found out that they were lies, and we couldn't keep following lies. They told us smallfeet weren't real."

Dallin nodded. "Ah."

_ I should probably change the subject now. _ Migo looked ready to disappear at any moment. Dallin guessed the Stones were still a bit of a touchy subject.

He looked around again, and caught sight of something. "What's that?" He pointed towards the ropes with ice blocks.

Migo looked relieved as he followed his gaze. "Oh! We use that to get around faster. C'mere, I'll show you!"

Dallin followed Migo up a path towards the top of a hill, nodding to any yeti that looked at him.

At the top, a yeti sat on a rock with his tongue out while an odd contraption spun nearby, moving the ropes through a pulley system.

Migo looked back to smile at him. "We used to have yetis here, keeping these moving all day. But we learned a few tricks from the smallfeet, and we built this."

Suddenly, Migo slapped his hand along the yeti's tongue, making Dallin jump. "Then you just put your hand on, and you stick to it. Go ahead. Try it!"

_ You can't be serious.  _ Dallin stared at him, unable to make himself move. "Can't I just use the snow?"

Migo shook his head. "This is what has always worked best. Go ahead."

Dallin was about to say, 'no way', but then he noticed the yeti's confused look. Of course, to him, Dallin was Fleem, and he had likely been doing this for years with no problem.

He cringed at the idea of trying to explain and prove again that he was a smallfoot in Fleem's body. That had been difficult enough the first time.

So he choked back his words, and forced himself to do what Migo said, trying not to think about it too much. But he still grimaced at the wetness now on his hand.

Dallin looked up and realized how high up the ice blocks were compared to him.

"Oh, uh, let me give you a boost." Migo said. He interlaced his fingers and held his hands out. "Ready? Don't forget to get your whole hand onto it."

Dallin sighed and stepped onto his hands. "Yup. Knock yourself out."

Migo waited for an ice block to get in position before he hoisted Dallin up and towards them in one move. Dallin almost missed it as he flailed, barely slapping his hand onto the block. It stuck, leaving him dangling as the rope moved over the ground far below him.

_ Don't look down. _

Dallin glanced behind him, where Migo followed on the next block. "How are we going to get off?" He yelled.

"You'll see!"

The ropes moved slowly and steadily, getting higher and higher. Dallin kept his eyes up. He wasn't terrified of heights, but he didn't exactly feel safe right there.

He was relieved when he got to the other side. Another yeti sat waiting with a pot of hot water. He flung it at the ice block with a sort of ladle, and Dallin came free and fell back to the ground, landing on his feet.

Migo followed, grinning. "Cool, right?"

Dallin shook off his wet hand. "Yeah. We don't have anything like that in my village."

The tour resumed. Dallin managed to relax somewhat, though in the back of his mind, he was still aware of the device in Ed's house.

He recognized much of the yeti village from Percy Patterson's descriptions. 

And he was one of the only humans who would ever get to see it!

Hours passed as Migo showed him as much as he possibly could. It was evening by the time Dallin had been around the whole thing, so on the way back towards Ed's house, Migo and Dallin stopped for some more rock fruit, red this time. 

Gwangi, Kolka and Meechee were outside the house when they returned. "What's going on?" Dallin asked anxiously. "Ed is trying some things. He just needed some space to concentrate." answered Kolka.

Dallin sighed and sat down on a nearby rock.

The other S.E.S members came to join him.

"In the meantime, could we ask a few more questions?" asked Meechee with a smile.

Dallin folded his arms. "Sure. Ask away."

* * *

"Dallin?"

Dallin jerked awake to darkness. When had he drifted off? He sat in front of the rock, and Kolka now knelt in front of him, gently shaking him.

Dallin looked at her in dismay. "It's  _ night?" _

Kolka nodded, looking a little guilty. "We got the device back. Ed doesn't know what to do with it."

_ I told you!  _ Dallin thought.

Kolka gently pulled Dallin to his feet. "It took a while. It's late. We'd better go to bed and get some sleep. We'll have to figure this out tomorrow."

A murmur of agreement came from the others.

Dallin's response was cut off by a yawn and a wave of grogginess.

_ Why did you have to be so curious? _

Now Dallin was stuck here for the night. 

Kolka steered him away with a hand on his shoulder. He stumbled as they moved.

After a few minutes, he recognized Fleem's home in front of him. "You'd better just sleep in Fleem's room." said Kolka.

"Mmhm." Resigned, Dallin bade her good night and went in on his own.

Another yeti stood in the front room!

Dallin jerked backwards, about to run right back out the door, until he remembered who it must be.

"Fleem. There you are." Fleem's mom looked up, looking tired.

"Uh, yeah. Hi, Mom. Um...how are you doing?" Dallin fidgeted, unsure how to act. He didn't know anything about Fleem as a person.

"I'm just a little tired. It's been a long day." Fleem's mom rubbed her eyes as she responded.

"Yeah, me too. I was just going to bed."

Fleem's mom nodded. "Allright. I'll see you tomorrow, Fleem."

Yawning for effect, Dallin headed through the hallway to Fleem's room.

The mammoth fur bed sheets were still on the floor from their earlier search. Dallin picked them up.

So he would have to make the bed. Great.

Dallin looked from the bed to the blanket and threw the furs over the rock. Was that how it had been earlier?

Whatever. He was too tired to mess with it too much.

He climbed onto the bed, putting his head on the rock pillow.

It definitely wasn't as comfortable as his bed back home. How could yetis be comfortable sleeping on a rock? The mammoth fur blanket helped, but he still felt it's hard roughness under it.

Dallin grunted as he shifted positions. Well, he'd better try to get comfy anyway. He was stuck here for the night, after all.

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem was ready to pass out from exhaustion.

He and Percy had been out for hours, looking for that house, long after Brenda had gone home to her room under Percy's and darkness had fallen. But the smallfoot village was way too big and mazelike, and Fleem couldn't tell one street from the next while he was a smallfoot.

Especially now, while his exhaustion made it nearly impossible to focus enough to see straight.

Percy was obviously frustrated with his incapability, but he didn't take it out on him. 

Fleem barely noticed when the snowmobile came to a stop. They were back at Percy's home. "We're not getting anywhere." said Percy. "Do you even know what the house looks like? Is it possible we passed it through all that time?"

Fleem sagged even more. "I don't know. I didn't really look at it before I left it."

Percy let out a soft sigh. "Well, in any case, it's too late to keep going. Let's go get some sleep and leave all this confusion for tomorrow, yeah?"

"You had me at sleep." Fleem mumbled through his sleepiness.

He slid off the snowmobile and followed Percy inside, still clutching his blanket around his shoulders. "I don't have a guest room. So you can have the couch, if you want." said Percy.

Without a word, Fleem stumbled in and collapsed on the couch.

It wasn't like his bed at home, but it would have to do for now.

Percy shook his head and walked away, presumably to his own room.

Now, Fleem had just one last thing to take care of. Sitting up for a moment, he kicked off his foot covers, letting them fly across the room. He was about to pull off the socks too, but he hesitated, remembering the cold. 

The socks could stay a little longer.

Fleem laid down and curled up in a ball, covering his body with the blanket. He looked forward to going back to not needing any of this just to stay warm. In fact, he had never given the cold much thought, when he had fur to eliminate the problem entirely.

He had taken it for granted.

He also had to wonder about the S.E.S. Had they noticed anything was wrong? What were they doing now? 

_ Probably sleeping, like I should be. _

* * *

Fleem woke up to the sound of clinking, clanking, and sizzling. 

"Smallfoot?" He mumbled, still half asleep. As he sat up, he realized there was also a strong smell in the air. It was foreign to him, but not unpleasant.  _ Definitely  _ not unpleasant.

Fleem stood up from the couch, wrapping his blanket around him and followed the smell to Percy's kitchen.

Percy was cooking something, using one of the weird contraptions he recognized from the house he woke up in. "What's that?" He asked, tired words betraying his grogginess.

Percy looked up. "Breakfast. You hungry?"

Yes. That smell was enough to make anyone hungry.

But the hard part was that he was doing things the smallfoot way. Percy had him sit at the table across from him, with a plate of what he called 'pancakes', and a couple of weird smallfoot eating utensils.

Fleem watched curiously as Percy poured a thick brown liquid over his pancakes. "What's that?"

"It's syrup. You put it on the pancakes." Percy slid the bottle over to Fleem.

Picking it up, he eyed it tentatively before shrugging and dousing his pancakes with it.

Percy watched him in silence, still seeming uncomfortable with him.

Fleem did his best to mirror what Percy did with the eating utensils. "I know right? Of all the yetis this could have happened to, you ended up stuck with me."

Percy blinked. "What?"

"You would probably be having an easier time if Migo were here instead, since you two are  _ such  _ good friends. I get the impression you don't like me that much."

Percy sighed. "It's not that. I'm just still having trouble wrapping my head around all this."

Fleem finally managed to get a bite in through the struggle of using a 'fork'. The syrup was sweet, and the pancakes were fluffy. They were good.

Percy glanced towards a nearby window. "Speaking of yetis, I think your village was planning on coming down today. Maybe they can help."

Fleem paused. He found he wasn't sure what he thought of that. What of the S.E.S? We're they looking for him? Did they know what had happened? 

Did they even miss him?

Percy tilted his head. "I...expected you might be  _ happy  _ about seeing your friends again."

Fleem looked away. "I'm not sure I want them to see me like this."

"But they're your friends."

Fleem took another bite, avoiding Percy's eyes.

_ They think I'm annoying.  _ But despite that, Fleem couldn't deny the terrible ache of homesickness in his stomach. For his home, the mountain, and the S.E.S. He didn't know what he would do if he was never able to go back.

Still, what would Gwangi, Meechee, Migo and Kolka think when they saw him? Would they think he deserved it? Would they laugh and leave Fleem to this fate?

The thoughts made him want to crawl away and find a hole to hide in.

"Things have really changed down here since you came down the mountain for the first time." Percy's voice brought Fleem back to the present. "Did you know that humans didn't believe in yetis before?"

Fleem took another bite. "Funny. Yetis didn't believe in smallfeet either."

Percy's eyes widened with interest. "But my yeti friend...or, Migo, told me he specifically came down the mountain looking for a human."

Fleem looked at him. "Well,  _ most  _ of them didn't believe, anyway. A few of us found evidence, and searched the mountain for a while before thinking to go below the clouds."

"And Migo was one of them?"

Fleem shrugged. "Not at first. Then he saw a smallfoot, and he couldn't pretend he hadn't. So down he went."

Percy smiled at some memory. "He surprised me. I sure wasn't expecting to see a real yeti."

Fleem smirked as Percy continued. "I ended up knocking myself out, and when I woke up in a cave, I thought he was going to eat me."

"Eh, can't imagine why."

This brought a chuckle out of both of them before they fell into silence again, finishing up their food.

"Alright, what now? I don't think we'll have any more luck finding that house today than yesterday." said Fleem.

Percy picked up their plates. "Well, we can ask your friends to help. More eyes, more hands…."

Fleem felt another twinge of dread at the thought. But Percy didn't let him argue. "Look, we're kind of out of other options. If you want, I'll do the talking. But you'll still have to be there."

Fleem looked away. But he nodded. Percy was right. But that didn't mean he was going to like it.


	7. Chapter 7

Dallin was ready to get on his knees and beg with all he had to go find Dr. Laker.

He'd spent the better part of the night tossing and turning, and wishing he were back home, in his own bed, and body. So it had been far less than restful.

"We can't wait any longer." He told the S.E.S outside his house. "Dr. Laker is the only one who can fix this thing, and I'd like him to get started right now." He looked pleadingly at each one of them, wishing he could make his eyes grow huge and cute.

"Dr. Laker is something else entirely. No one else can do what he does, yeti or smallfoot. So can we  _ please  _ go find him, before I lose my sanity?"

Meechee smiled in understanding."Right right. We were going to go down today anyway. Might as well go early."

Migo nodded, looking suddenly excited. "Yeah. Maybe my smallfoot can help too!"

Meechee nodded too. "We can ask. But let's go grab some breakfast first."

Dallin walked with the others towards the rock fruit stands. Finally, he was going to get out of this mess.

_ Yes! _

* * *

"No way!"

Dallin stared down in horror over the cliff he had almost fallen off of. Kolka had just barely been able to catch him, and now, they wanted him to  _ jump  _ off!? 

"Trust us, it's fine." said Migo. "We do it every time we visit your village"

Dallin looked at him wide eyed. "But I'm not…"

"There's lots of snow at the bottom." Reassured Meechee. "It's like landing on a cloud. Fleem does it too."

Dallin backed away from the cliff edge. "Isn't there a way to just  _ climb  _ down instead?"

Migo shook his head. "No, not really. But don't worry! It really isn't so bad once you get used to it."

Dallin groaned.

"Look, we'll be with you the whole time. We'll all jump together." said Kolka.

"Off a  _ mountain."  _ Dallin took another step back.

"It's the only way down."

Dallin groaned again, louder.

He could sense frustration in the group. Dallin stepped back again, defiant.

Frustration at him for struggling to jump off a mountain didn't seem well justified. But maybe that was just the human in him talking. After all, yetis were far more resilient.

"Look, I'll go first. Maybe then, you'll see it's okay." Migo gave him a smile then stepped up to the edge of the cliff. Dallin watched him anxiously. "You seriously do this all the time?"

"Mmhmm." said Gwangi while the others nodded.

Migo glanced back. "Remember, plenty of snow at the bottom." With that, he crouched, and leaped into the air, disappearing over the side of the cliff.

Dallin found he couldn't move as he listened to Migo's screams fade with distance.

After a moment, the S.E.S turned back to Dallin. "He made it." said Meechee. "Come see!"

Hesitantly, Dallin crept closer to the cliff, keeping an eye on them in case any of them tried to push him over.

Far far below, he could see a tiny white speck moving away from the mountain's base, jumping as if to get their attention.

"See? Perfectly fine." Meechee turned to smile at him. "Now, let's go find your device smallfoot, and Fleem, and get this sorted out."

Dallin closed his eyes and took a breath, every survival instinct screaming at him to get away from that drop.

From his other side, he felt Kolka take his wrist in her hand. "Ready?"

_ No. Absolutely not ready. _

But he forced himself not to pull away. If this was the only way down, it wouldn't help to prolong it.

"Allright, go!" Meechee ordered.

Dallin jumped, along with the others.

Involuntary, his eyes shot open, showing him the ground rising towards him, alarmingly fast. Besides his companions, nothing but open air surrounded him. He found himself clutching at Kolka desperately as a panicked scream forced its way out of his throat. What had he been thinking!?

He wasn't the only one though. All the other yetis screamed all the way down as Migo had. Perhaps they'd never fully gotten used to such a fall, despite what they'd said.

Dallin closed his eyes again and braced himself as twenty feet of snow rose to meet them.

Kolka still didn't let go, keeping his wrist in a tight grip as the four of them hit the ground.

Dallin gasped as the layers of snow halted his fall, leaving a Fleem-Dallin shaped hole.

When Kolka pulled him out and set him back on his feet, he found his legs were trembling a little.

_ I'm alive. _

Well, Dallin could add jumping off a mountain to his list of experiences he could have lived without.

"You okay?" Migo asked, walking over to Dallin.

Dallin laughed in disbelief and nervousness. "I jumped off a mountain. And I'm still alive. I'm still a yeti, and I'm going crazy." He gave Migo a crazed grin, stumbling on his shaky legs. "Jumping off mountains has that effect. But despite that, I  _ think _ I'm alright."

At the weird looks he got from his companions, Dallin shook his head, getting his sense back. "Alright, let's go. Dr. Laker always comes out when you visit. He shouldn't be hard to find."

Dallin looked forward, at the path ahead. He hadn't been this far into the woods.

He glanced back sheepishly. "Eh...you'd better go first."

Meechee chuckled and took the lead, marching confidently through the snow and rocks.

The sun shone bright, making the snow sparkle through the trees. Dallin looked around as they walked. The woods seemed a lot less ominous while he was a yeti. In fact, they were beautiful.

They passed out of the woods for a moment, a ravine blocking their way. Dallin opened his mouth to ask how they were going to get across, but Meechee suddenly leaped, flying and landing gracefully on the other side. Dallin's mouth stayed open.

Migo followed without hesitation, as did Kolka. Gwangi glanced down at the still gaping Dallin. "Fleem does it too." He reminded him before jumping.

Dallin stared at the group as they turned to look at him expectantly. "Okay, I guess I can understand all of you doing that. But I'm not a particularly big yeti. I probably can't jump as far as you can, right?"

Meechee shook her head. "Fleem has jumped this same ravine countless times now. You can make it. Look, we'll even wait to hold you steady when you land."

Dallin cursed his shaking limbs and sighed as he backed up for a running start. If he didn't make it, the fall into the ravine with it's sharp rocks would probably be less forgiving than the fall from the mountain.

_ But I've already lost my sense of possible and impossible. What's another incident? _

Dallin ran for the ravine and launched himself over the dark crack of doom. The strength of his yeti legs took him completely by surprise.

As if he had been doing this for years, his body adjusted itself in the air to prepare to land.

His feet met the ground without a stumble, sturdy, steady and reliable.

He didn't even need Meechee and Kolka's steadying hands.

_ Whoa.  _ Exhilarating feelings surged up in Dallin, making him feel powerful. He felt like running and bounding across the landscape, if only to see what else he could do.

He grinned broadly as they continued their journey.  _ However unexpectedly these circumstances came to be, being a yeti sure has its perks. _

* * *

They had to cross more ravines, rocks and mini mountains on the way. This time, Dallin didn't hesitate to jump, his confidence growing each time.

Then at long last, the human city came into view, making him pause.

It looked way different from this perspective. 

But he froze at the back of the group when he saw the people. 

Many of them he knew, and he now towered over them. 

A crowd of people rushed to greet the yetis with grinning faces, and shouted greetings.

Dallin blinked. Wait….they didn't sound like themselves at all! All of them were emitting a fast high pitched….gibberish, chattering and chattering.

_ Is  _ that  _ what we sound like to the yetis!?  _ He thought in shock.  _ We sound weird. _

He found himself looking away from the S.E.S, a little embarrassed. He would never see his conversations with yetis the same way again.

But first things first. Dallin turned to scan the crowd, growing anxious. Was Dr. Laker there?

"Smallfoot!" Migo called happily. Dallin watched him rush to greet a much shorter Percy Patterson, the latter pulling along a hauntingly familiar young man in an oversized blue coat and sweatpants, holding a flower decorated blanket around his shoulders.

Dallin gasped, taking a step back. It was  _ himself!  _ It was  _ his own body! _

The imposter looked up, meeting his eyes, and his own face grew shocked. He pulled the blanket over his head, as if to hide himself.

Dallin couldn't tear his eyes away.  _ Well then. You must be Fleem. _

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem was panicking.

He hadn't considered that his friends would sound different! Under his blanket, he listened to Migo greeting Percy, this time from the other side. He understood the smallfoot this time, but Migo was  _ growling.  _ Meechee was too, and Kolka….they didn't sound like yetis at all!

And they were  _ huge.  _ If he'd thought he had been short before, they now completely dwarfed him.

But what shocked him the most was that he had seen himself among them. His own gray eyes had looked back at him, without a mirror in sight.

It all made sense now. He hadn't just turned into a smallfoot. He had  _ switched places _ with a smallfoot. That meant….

A smallfoot was in his body. Walking around. Talking to his friends. Probably living in his house, and sleeping in his bed. Fleem had been  _ replaced  _ with a smallfoot.

He pulled the blanket further over himself, squeezing his handfuls of fabric tighter. Did his friends even know that anything had happened? Was this how things were going to be from now on? Was he stuck? Was he being punished for all his quips, leaving a more suitable creature in his place? 

And a smallfoot of all creatures! Had he sunk that low?

"Fleem. What are you doing?" Percy's voice came from next to him, making him flinch.

Fleem raised the blanket enough to peek out, only looking at Percy. "You said you'd do the talking."

"I am. They already know what happened, Fleem."

Fleem stood a little straighter, peeking out more. "What?"

"Or, at least I think they do. My yeti...or, Migo I guess, has been pointing at you and your...body, over there." Fleem didn't look. But he could feel his own eyes looking at him, as well as the S.E.S. What did they think of him now? Were they laughing at him?

He couldn't bring himself to look at any of them. Especially not that  _ smallfoot. _

Percy was trying to talk to Migo again, struggling with their sign language. 

"So both of them have been like this for two days now? How did you….whoa...oh boy."

Fleem stiffened. "What?" He uncovered his face, just enough for Percy to see.

Percy turned around, showing him a black oddly shaped device. A damaged one.

Fleem pointed at it. "That's it! That's the device that smallfoot gave me!"

Percy grimaced. "It looks like it was smashed by a rock. That complicates things."

Fleem flashed back to the last night he had spent as a yeti. His rock pillow. A spot of guilt appeared in his stomach. But he kept quiet.

Percy looked back at Fleem. "I hope Dr. Laker can fix this. But either way, I think we'll still need the other one."

He looked in the direction of Fleem's real body. "Fortunately, I think we'll be able to find it now. I bet it's in his house. We'll have him lead us to it. Then we can worry about this broken one."

He began signing to Migo again.

Growls of different kinds came from in front of Fleem, answering each other and Percy.

He wished he were hiding away in Percy's home. Then he wouldn't have to be aware of his friends' eyes on him, while he refused to look. Then he wouldn't have to wonder what they thought when they looked at him. Because he was deathly afraid to know. At least Percy wasn't pushing him to try to talk to them.

Disappointed smallfeet hoping the whole village had come down began to disperse, waving to the S.E.S. A few stayed to watch Percy and Migo interact. Fleem recognized the bossy smallfeet among them. He quickly covered his face again. He didn't need them trying to get him to do more chores. Luckily, they didn't seem to have seen him.

A new growling voice Fleem hadn't heard yet approached. He cringed, taking a blind step back as the smallfoot in his body came forward to try to communicate with Percy.

"Right." said Percy. "So, have you seen Dr. Laker around? You've probably guessed he's the one behind this?"

More growls.

Fleem sighed, turning his back on them so he could look out freely. He would have gone looking for the smallfoot himself, but he didn't want to be alone again. So he just looked around the area.

"Dr. Laker always comes out when any yeti comes to visit." said Percy. "Yeah, yeah that's a good idea."

A pause later, he called out, "Fleem, we're all going to walk around a bit, and see if he's anywhere in this crowd. C'mon."

From behind, Percy's arm snaked around Fleem's shoulders, pulling him along. The blanket slipped off his head, and he barely caught it.

Fleem fought to get it back on as Percy continued to steer him along. "You'll want to be able to see if we're going to find Dr. Laker." said Percy. 

Glaring, Fleem defiantly got the blanket back onto his head like a cloak hood, but kept his face uncovered. He ignored the growls that told him his yeti friends were trying to get his attention.

Suddenly, a red haired smallfoot appeared in front of him. "Hey! There you are! I lost you the other day!"

Fleem yelped and scrambled back, freeing himself from Percy, who was also startled. 

_ Must you keep doing that? _

But he recovered quickly. "That's him! He's the one who did this to me!"

"I...what?" Dr. Laker raised a confused eyebrow, and glanced at Percy for an explanation. "I was just going to see if you still had my empathy prototype. I've been looking all over for you!"

"Well, guess what? Your device worked! Now switch us back!" Fleem glared at him.

Percy gave Fleem a shove, and shook his head. He held up the broken device. "Is this what you're looking for?"

Dr. Laker stared at it in disbelief. "Oh, mercy! What did you do to it?!" He snatched it away from Percy, and looked it over frantically.

Dr. Laker then noticed the other yetis behind them, his eyes going to the smallfoot in Fleem's body. "And  _ you!  _ What happened to the other one?" The smallfoot-yeti blinked as if surprised at being addressed directly. Or maybe because he couldn't understand his own species anymore.

Percy held up his hands. "Wait! Just listen for a moment!" Dr. Laker turned to him, looking distraught.

Percy sighed. "Well, Dr. Laker, we have something to explain to you." He sagged a bit. "But I don't really know how. It's going to sound absolutely crazy, but I  _ promise  _ it's not a joke."

Fleem rolled his eyes. This was taking too long! "Your device made me and a sm.. a  _ human  _ switch bodies. That yeti..." He pointed at the smallfoot-yeti. "...is not a yeti. He's in  _ my  _ body, and I've been stuck like this for a day and a night! Now, can you fix that device and switch us back?"

Dr. Laker stared at him in silence, trying to make sense of what Fleem had said. Did he believe him? He of all smallfeet should be taking this seriously!

"I know it sounds crazy." Percy chipped in. "But…"

"Empathy." Dr. Laker mumbled. 

He glanced from the smallfoot-yeti to Fleem and back, wide-eyed. "The device was supposed to establish an empathic connection. To know and feel what each other is trying to communicate."

Fleem huffed and pulled the blanket further over himself. "It did that a little too well, wouldn't you say?"

Dr. Laker shook his head in bewilderment, a smile slowly appearing on his face and overbearing energy returned to his eyes. "Oh my.  _ Oh my.  _ Do you realize the potential this uncovers for our species?"

"No, and I don't care." Fleem snapped. "I just want to go back to my body."

Dr. Laker didn't seem to register that for a moment. He still had that distracted smile on his face.

Then his overactive mind caught up and he shook his head to bring himself back. "Right."

He frowned at the broken device in his hands. "Well, I suppose I'll need to fix this. It may take a few days to…"

"A few days!" Fleem stared at him. "You've gotta be kidding! I can't take this for days! I've already lost my mind!"

Dr. Laker shook his head. "I'm afraid this is a rather delicate project, my friend. Lucky for us speed isn't a priority." He smiled reassuringly and continued, not giving Fleem a chance to respond. "But in the meantime, I'll also need the other device in order to make it work."

Percy grinned. "Way ahead of you." He looked up at the smallfoot-yeti and began signing. "Can you lead us to your house? You left the other device there, right?"

After an eternity of signing, talking, growling and signing some more, the smallfoot-yeti perked up in understanding and nodded, gesturing for Percy to follow.

Percy looked back at Fleem. "Wait here with the others. We'll be back in a jiff."

Fleem stiffened. "What? You're just gonna leave me here?"

Percy shrugged. "You've got them to talk to." He gestured at the S.E.S behind him. "They've already seen you, Fleem. They're not gonna laugh. Just fill them in on what's been going on. They're your friends."

Fleem watched him walk away, dread making his stomach hurt. But what could he do?

Footsteps sounded behind him as the S.E.S approached. Fleem threw the blanket fully over his head, refusing to look at them. He  _ did not  _ want to know what they were thinking.

Growls sounded, and whoever was in front of him crouched closer to his new shorter level.

Fleem backed up, shrinking into himself. "No. Don't."

He gripped the blanket tightly in case they tried to take it. "Haven't I been through enough?"

Suddenly, something wrapped around his middle, blanket and all, and lifted Fleem off his feet. Fleem gasped in shock, struggling a little. "No, what are you doing? Stop!"

The gentle pressure eased as Fleem was placed onto a pair of hands. The blanket slid off a little, exposing his face again. Kolka's eyes met his, looking grim.

Fleem pulled his knees to his chest under the blanket. "So, you getting cozy with that imposter yet?" He tried to sound angry, but he was suddenly fighting tears.

"You're probably thinking he's less annoying than me. More  _ likeable.  _ Smallfeet always are, to you."

Kolka just watched him as he spluttered, struggling to speak words as everything came spilling out.

Not that it made much difference. Fleem knew what smallfeet sounded like to yetis. She couldn't make out anything anyway.

"You're probably thinking you'd be better off leaving me here, and keeping him instead. You wouldn't even notice I was gone." 

Frustrated with himself, he covered his head with the blanket again as a couple of stray tears finally escaped his eyes. Had he always been this emotional? He blamed the smallfoot body. It had messed him up in virtually every way conceivable.

Something touched his head, gently sliding the blanket off. Fleem now sat completely exposed in his misery on Kolka's palm, as she pulled off his cover. He sighed and let her take it off his shoulders too. What was the point? He couldn't hide from what he had been turned into.

Kolka pulled him to her chest, catching him off guard. A hug? "W-What are you doing?" He spluttered.

Of course, he couldn't understand her response. But her growls sounded gentle.

Fleem glanced in shock to the other members of the S.E.S. beside Kolka. They nodded and answered with gentle growls of their own.

None of them laughed.

Fleem blinked, and started to relax into Kolka's hug. His dread and fear began to melt away. Through his tears, he let out a shaky sigh of utmost relief.

The message was clear enough. The S.E.S, his friends, were  _ not  _ going to abandon him.


	8. Chapter 8

Dallin, Percy and Dr. Laker made their way back to the S.E.S, through streets that now felt small. Percy had gone in and found the device on the nightstand, right where Dallin had left it the night of the switch.

Dr. Laker chattered like he always did, probably explaining the entire history of his project to Percy. But now he sounded like something from a cartoon. Dallin rubbed his head with a soft groan. This new perspective was just too  _ surreal  _ to think about too hard.

The S.E.S waited where they had left them, trying to communicate with Fleem in Dallin's body, who sat on a nearby rock. Dallin stopped to stare. He didn't think he could get used to seeing himself from the outside like this.

_ Surreal indeed. _

Dr. Laker's prattle drew their attention. Fleem looked back, catching sight of Dallin. Immediately, he scowled and turned away.

Dallin shuffled his feet, feeling a flash of guilt. He imagined turning from a yeti to a human was a rough adjustment.

But did that mean they were both going to just avoid each other until this was over?

He was distracted by the arrival of another person. It was Brenda, Percy's assistant. Percy smiled and ran to greet her as she looked around at everyone. It also appeared that he was explaining what was going on, pointing at Fleem and Dallin.

Dallin gave her a little wave when she looked from Fleem to him. 

He stood awkwardly off to the side as the S.E.S crowded forward to talk to Brenda. What else could he do? 

Almost against his will, he found his eyes straying back to Fleem on the rock. His back was to Dallin. 

Dallin sighed sadly and moved aside to put the cluster of yetis and humans between him and the yeti turned human. He didn't really blame Fleem for his coldness.

He looked around, just to keep his eyes anywhere but on Fleem. Other people waved to him as they passed, thinking he was a yeti. Dallin forced an uncomfortable smile and waved back. Hopefully Dr. Laker would be able to fix the device in record time, and things could go back to normal.

Dallin began to look around more frantically. Where did Dr. Laker go?

_ Dang it! Why does he have to keep disappearing? _

"Does anyone see Dr. Laker?" He called out, getting everyone's attention. They glanced at him, then around, frowning.

Percy signed at him with a shrug and a confused expression. Dallin crouched onto one knee, and tried to think of the right signs to respond with.

It didn't help that his mind constantly reminded him that he was trying in this form, to communicate with a person the same way he communicated with the yetis. And vice versa.

Dallin pointed to Percy's red hair, and pointedly looked around, as if asking 'where'?

Percy's eyes widened in understanding, and looked around, looking perplexed. Then he shook his head and held up his phone.

Dallin relaxed. Percy had Dr. Laker's number. At least he would be in touch.

Dallin stood up and looked at the S.E.S. "So. What now?"

Meechee smiled. "Well, for a little while, you're a yeti. Maybe it'll be fun exploring your own world with a new perspective."

Dallin shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well then. How about you show us around now?" Migo asked. "Now that you can tell us what things are without talking in gibberish."

Dallin nodded and let himself smile, forcing himself not to look at Fleem. "All right. Let's go this way."

* * *

A few hours later, Dallin sat down in the snow, his back to the Yak Shack.  _ Whew! _

The city seemed just a tad smaller now that he was a yeti, but there was still a lot to see. 

The S.E.S were a very curious bunch, aside from Fleem, it seemed.Their eyes grew huge with wonder at everything there was to see, and they bombarded Dallin with question after question. That, and whenever he came closer to the edge of the city, Fleem and Dallin discreetly took pains to make sure they couldn't see each other, until the S.E.S led Dallin another way.

All of that was enough to make anyone tired, yeti or no.

Someone appeared in the corner of Dallin's eye. He turned to see who was approaching, and almost jumped out of his skin and fur. Kolka walked up, holding Fleem, who looked  _ very  _ distressed, and  _ very  _ grumpy. Dallin inwardly groaned and frowned at Kolka. 

She didn't need to say out loud that she'd noticed them avoiding each other. With an encouraging smile, she put Fleem down and pushed him closer to Dallin.

"Just talk for a bit." She turned and walked away, to rejoin everyone else.

When Dallin looked back at Fleem, he was already turned away, refusing to have anything to do with him. He sat down against the wall, curled up with his blanket over his shoulders.

Dallin bumped his head back against the Yak Shack wall a couple of times. Both he and Fleem sighed, and didn't say anything.

_ I can't believe I'm getting the silent treatment from my own body. _

For a solid five minutes, there was silence.

Finally getting restless, Dallin huffed and looked at Fleem again. "This isn't my fault. I didn't ask for it, any more than you did."

At the sound of his voice, Fleem seemed to tense up even more, if that was possible.

"You think this is how I expected I would spend the last couple of days?" Dallin held up an arm. "Look at me. I have  _ fur!" _

Fleem looked back over his shoulder, scowling as Dallin started ranting. "I almost fell off a cliff. I don't know if you've ever done that, but I personally don't like the way it made me feel.

After that, I spent the night sleeping on a big rock, and let me tell you, it was worse than the princess's pea. Better me than her though, because  _ I  _ actually have fur, an extra layer!"

He took a gasping breath and pointed at the mountain. "Then this morning, I jumped off of that!"

Dallin gave Fleem a pointed look. "Maybe you're used to jumping off a mountain every other day, but  _ I'm _ not! I'm not a thrill seeker. I just clean up messes and do dishes for a good portion of my day."

He looked back at the wall behind him. "In this place, actually." He grimaced. "My boss probably thinks I've been skipping work. And with a few more days to go before I'm me again? I'm  _ so _ fired."

Fleem had lost his scowl, but he still looked wary of Dallin. Dallin gave him a small smile. "Somehow though, I'm not that sad about it."

The Yak Shack door slammed open, making both of them jump. It was Ron, one of Dallin's self-appointed 'bosses'. Fleem leaped to his feet, looking alarmed, and dashed to hide behind Dallin. But Ron was just taking out the trash, something he usually made Dallin do.

Dallin smiled awkwardly and waved when he noticed him. Ron nodded a greeting and went back inside the Yak Shack.

Dallin looked back at Fleem and gave a thumbs up. "He's gone."

Fleem sighed in relief and walked out to stand in front of Dallin.

"So." Dallin smiled uncomfortably. "I see you've met my bosses."

Fleem huffed in exasperation, glancing at the Yak Shack door.

"Did they splash water on you while you were doing the dishes?" Dallin did his best to sign.

Fleem's eyes widened and he burst into more chatter than Dallin had heard from him yet. He paced back and forth, gesturing and talking agitatedly.

_ Well, I've got  _ him _ ranting now. I guess we're making progress. _

Dallin let him talk, nodding in agreement at his unintelligible babbling.

Eventually, Fleem began to settle down, out of breath. He stopped in front of Dallin again, then seemed to remember who he was talking to. He looked away, and his eyes took on the same wary frustration as before.

Dallin sighed. He guessed he wouldn't get anything else out of Fleem right now. 

He stood up, gesturing with his head towards the others. "C'mon. Let's go see what everyone else is doing."

* * *

Dallin watched the sunset with a little nervousness.

The day had passed rather quickly. He had tried a few more times to talk to Fleem again, but he wasn't having it, even when he seemed a little more relaxed.

So Dallin had hung out with the S.E.S, Brenda and Percy until the sun started going down.

Finally, Meechee glanced at it too. "I think we should go back up now." she said, looking at Dallin.

Dallin frowned. "But…"

"All we can do is wait, Dallin. Your Dr. Laker is working on the device, but until then, you should stay in the village with us. But don't worry, we'll come back first thing tomorrow."

Dallin sighed and nodded. She was right.

That didn't make it easy to turn and walk away from his home. It felt wrong, like he was leaving behind something important.

Dallin kept glancing back as Kolka gently pushed him on with a hand on his shoulder. She smiled in understanding.

They trudged up a snowy hill, and Dallin looked back one more time before the city passed out of sight. There, in the light cast by the signs and street lamps, he could see Fleem, watching them leave. It was too far to see his face, but Dallin knew his expression was one of longing.

Then he and everything else passed behind the hill's slope.

Dallin turned away and didn't look back again.

He spent the rest of the walk wishing and moping, and then the mountain was there, looming over the group.

Migo immediately launched himself up, grabbing a rock shelf and leaping up and up. 

Dallin sighed. Of course, he would have to climb. Had he expected any less?

But he already knew he wouldn't be able to leap and bound like Migo. 

He reached up to grab a rocky handhold, grunting as he began to pull himself upwards. Loose pebbles streamed down the rock, making him freeze before reaching again.

Gwangi and Kolka appeared on either side of him. Kolka continued to vault herself upwards, making Dallin look like a snail.

Meechee chuckled. "Fleem actually isn't much of a climber." Her voice came from below. 

Dallin peeked down at her as much as he could without moving his body too much. "What? He can leap ravines and jump off mountains, but he can't climb?"

He yelped as his hand slipped and he slid back down onto the snow at the bottom, sprawled onto his back. Meechee helped him up, chuckling some more.

Dallin looked up at Migo, far above them. "How does Fleem get up there, then?"

As his answer, Gwangi, who stood nearby, grabbed him around the waist, and hoisted him up, throwing him over his shoulder.

"Oh. That's how." Dallin moaned and let himself go limp.

Meechee shrugged and began the climb. Dallin watched the ground fall away as Gwangi followed, jumping.

As they got higher, Dallin had to close his eyes to keep from getting vertigo.  _ I can't believe I fell this far. _ And he would again tomorrow. The thought made him shudder.

The entire way up, Dallin spent alternating between being thrown over Gwangi's shoulder, and tucked under his arm. He was grateful the others were ahead, as it was a little undignified. Dallin resolved even further to make sure he got back to his body, one way or another. He was done with mountains.

Finally, Gwangi crested the top cliff, and set Dallin back down, well away from the edge.

Dallin nodded his thanks and followed the group back towards the village.

Migo and Kolka smiled back at him. "Don't worry! The time will pass fast." said Migo. "We'll let  _ you _ ask some questions this time." Dallin nodded again. 

They smiled again, and began to chat with each other about the events of the day. 

_ Here we go again.  _ Dallin sighed in resignation.

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem almost followed the S.E.S when they left.

Percy's hand on his shoulder had stopped him, reminding him that he was stuck down here.

Fleem had watched his friends disappear into the darkness with Dallin, the smallfoot-yeti, while Percy had muttered something about the clouds.

Back at Percy's home, he was feeling more homesick than ever. 

And also very VERY cold.

He sat on the floor, covered by a decent sized pile of blankets in the living room, only his eyes peeking out, glaring at Percy when he tried to take one for his own slightly smaller pile. Outside the giant window nearby, wind howled and snow swirled around the building.

"Fine time for the heating to stop working." Percy complained, voice muffled by blankets.

"The what?" Fleem raised an unseen eyebrow.

Percy ignored the inquiry. "Though I have to remind myself, the top of the mountain was worse."

"You need to grow some fur." said Fleem. "You'd solve all your problems that way."

"Don't  _ you  _ ever get cold up there, even with your fur?" Percy pulled his blankets closer.

Fleem shrugged. "Not really. It takes a lot to make a yeti cold." He shivered. "Turning them into a smallfoot works quite well. Do you have any more blankets? Here, give me one of yours."

"At least you don't have to worry about altitude sickness." Percy pointed out, pulling his blankets away from Fleem's hand.

Fleem smirked inside his pile. "Jealous?"

Percy sighed. "Yeah. I almost died up there, on the mountain. The experience of being cold feels a hundred times worse when you can't breathe well."

Fleem grunted in response, and the two fell silent, listening to the snow storm.

He would be very happy to let Dallin have the cold back. He was surprised the smallfoot hadn't decided being a yeti was better than being a smallfoot.

_ Who would be crazy enough to want this? _

Regardless, he wasn't going to complain.

Percy and Fleem jumped as something made a banging sound outside. 

"This house isn't about to collapse on us, is it?" Fleem asked.

"No. Storms like this one are fairly common. It's built to withstand them." said Percy.

_ CRASH! _

Fleem and Percy gasped and scrambled backwards as something large smashed into the window, sending pieces of glass scattering.

Fleem squeezed his eyes shut and burrowed deeper into his pile of blankets. "You were saying?"

Percy gasped out a shaky breath. "It's fine. It's fine. There's just a hole in the window. It's fine."

Fleem peeped back out. Most of the window was still intact, as Percy said. But that hole….

The wind blew into the room, sending snow in with it.

"Quick!" shouted Percy over the sound. "Find something to cover that hole!"

Percy fought his way free from his blanket pile, and ran off into a hallway.

Somewhat more reluctantly, Fleem crawled free and chased after him, cold nipping him from behind, even through his smallfoot coat.

He yelped and rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind him. 

In the darkness, he grappled for the light switch on the wall, and turned on the light.

What could cover a hole like that? Most of the things in here were fixed to the floor or the wall!

He lightly pulled at the edges to the mirror, but there would be no luck there.

A strip of fabric hung on a rod. Fleem snatched it, holding it up with a frown. Too small.

He looked around, shuddering as he felt the storm's cold filtering through the bottom of the door. Then his eyes went to the curtain over the tub.

He launched himself at it, yanking hard. It. Had. To. Come. Off! Fleem growled and pulled harder, putting his back into it. Whatever it took to stop the cold!

Suddenly, with a jolt, the rod holding the curtain came free, and Fleem fell onto his bottom on the hard bathroom floor.

Wincing, Fleem ignored the pain and grabbed the curtain. "Percy!" He called, opening the door. "Use this!"

He rushed straight into the cold, gasping at it's sharp bite. Another jolt, and Fleem was jerked backwards, almost falling again.

The curtain rod was too wide for the door frame! Fleem pulled desperately, trying to get it free.

Percy appeared, eyes going to the curtain. "Perfect! There's a curtain rod above the window I haven't ever used!"

Percy knelt and slid the rod out of the loops attached to the curtain. "C'mon! Quick!"

The two held the curtain between them and hurried back to the living room. Fleem pulled his arms into his coat sleeves as he shivered, waiting impatiently for Percy to get the loops onto the rod above the window.

"Hurry!" He yelled. "I'm freezing to death!"

"There!" The curtain was on the rod, but it still flapped in the wind, exposing the hole.

"Help me move the side tables!" Percy shouted. "They'll hold the bottom in place!" Fleem nodded and they dragged one then the other. The curtain stayed, though it bulged towards them with a windy air pocket.

Fleem collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily. "Why am I still cold? We covered the hole!" He pulled his knees to his chest.

Percy looked at him. "A shower curtain isn't going to do much against that. But it's all we've got until I can get the window fixed."

Fleem let out a loud groan and crawled across the floor, towards his blanket pile. "I hate being a smallfoot."

Surrounded by blankets once again, Fleem began to feel warmer. He sighed in relief.

Percy got back into his pile too, and the two settled down for what both of them knew was going to be a long night.


	9. Chapter 9

Dallin sprinted at the front of the group, leaping and bounding over obstacles.

The whole village was coming down this morning, but they were far behind by now. Dallin was too impatient to walk, as was the S.E.S. That, and Dallin might have been trying to avoid the Stonekeeper a little bit too. Earlier, while the group was eating their breakfast of rock fruit, the yeti leader had come by, and heard the S.E.S asking 'Fleem' questions about being a smallfoot. 

The S.E.S had done their best to talk it off, but Dallin still imagined he saw suspicion in his eyes. That made his air of authority far more intimidating than it already was. No way could Dallin keep his composure enough to explain his predicament to the Stonekeeper himself.

Dallin smiled as he leaped across another ravine. A thrill of freedom filled his entire body. It almost felt like flying, to be able to cross the landscape so effortlessly. He would miss these feelings when he got back to his own body.

The S.E.S ran on around him, none of them breaking their pace. The end of the woods appeared, and the human city came into view over the hilltop, the sunrise shining onto it.

Dallin skidded to a halt in the clearing the yetis always came to, breathing heavily. It was a relief to be back to his familiar surroundings again.

Fleem, Brenda and Percy had beaten them there. Percy and Brenda smiled and jogged over to greet Migo. But Fleem stayed put, still wearing that blanket over his shoulders and pointedly refusing to look at Dallin. 

Dallin frowned. He seemed a little more grumpy than yesterday. His handfuls of blanket were tight fisted, and Dallin could have sworn he was slightly swaying on his feet.

Still frowning, Dallin took in the rest of the city as everyone else began chattering in excitement and eagerness.

The rest of the people were a little slower coming out, many of them shoveling snow.

Dallin understood suddenly. 

He grimaced as he looked at Fleem and Percy. Both of them looked exhausted, and their coats were a little wet as if they'd been pelted with snow. Or perhaps shoveling it. Despite that, Percy was smiling as he talked to Migo and Meechee.

Kolka greeted Percy and Brenda, then looked up at Fleem a little ways away. She took a step towards him, and he turned away, making her frown in confusion.

"I think he had a rough night." Dallin suggested. He pointed at the city. "It looks like there was a snow storm last night. Quite often people get snowed in, and they'll have to get up early to shovel it away from their doors before work."

Kolka looked back at him. "Oh. That must be hard."

Dallin shrugged. "Yep. It's a real pain. But what can you do? Happens all the time. But it must be especially hard for Fleem. He's probably never had to worry about long cold nights like those."

Kolka nodded sympathetically and turned back to Fleem. "Nope. Our fur usually keeps us pretty warm."

Dallin looked at Fleem as he shot a grumpy glance at Kolka, then looked away again. "I imagine any yeti would be tired and cranky after experiencing first hand just how sensitive to cold we smallfeet really are. Heck,  _ I  _ still get tired and cranky after snow storms. No one in this city ever really gets used to it."

Meechee walked over, standing next to Kolka. "I can imagine why. He looks like he was awake the entire night."

Kolka put her hands on her hips. "Knowing Fleem, he'll spend the whole day sulking. But he did plenty of that yesterday. Tired or not, I think we should keep him engaged today."

Meechee nodded in agreement.

Fleem glanced at them both with narrowed eyes, probably wondering what they were saying about him. 

Kolka whispered one last thing to Meechee before stepping forward and quickly picking Fleem up with both hands before he could back off.

Fleem's eyes widened in outrage, and he fought back, chattering furiously.

Kolka didn't even seem to feel his kicks or punches. "Not today, Fleem. Calm down." She told him, gripping his struggling form gently but firmly.

Fleem panted, staring at her in disbelief. Finally, he let out a high pitched moan and went limp in defeat.

Kolka nodded. "That's better." She began walking away, presumably to go get him talking. 

Fleem glared at Dallin as she carried him past, as if to say,  _ This is  _ your  _ fault. _

Dallin sighed. Fleem seemed determined to hate him.

"Whoa, what happened here?" Dallin turned at the sound of Migo's voice. Migo was looking around at the city, with all the snow. Percy sat on his shoulder, looking drowsy, and Brenda stood nearby.

"Snow storm." answered Dallin. He met Migo's gaze. "You want to go help clear it away from the doors? It'll be easier as a yeti, I imagine."

Migo smiled and nodded. "Let's do it!"

Brenda, Gwangi and Meechee followed, all too willing to help.

Dallin stopped, and scooped at a pile of snow with his hands. The girl who had been shoveling looked at him in surprise, and stepped back as Dallin made quick work of what usually took an hour at the least. 

She smiled and signed a thank you when he finished. Dallin smiled back and gave her a thumbs up. "You're welcome. It's no problem at all."

Nearby, Migo finished with a pile of his own, nodding at a young man. Percy signed something to him, though from here Dallin couldn't see what. In response, Migo took Percy from his shoulder and lowered him to the ground. Percy then left to join Brenda, who worked at another house nearby.

"What's Percy's friend's name?" Migo asked suddenly as he and Dallin kept going.

"Brenda. She's Percy's assistant."

"Assistant? What does she help him with? Is it his job?"

Dallin threw aside a handful of snow. "Yep. Those two have been a team for a long long time. They run a show called 'Percy Patterson's Wildlife'."

Migo tilted his head thoughtfully. "A..show? He's a performer? Oh, oh, let me guess! He does those 'magic tricks!' That's why he's so good at them!"

Dallin blinked, confused before chuckling. "Uh, it's not that kind of show, Migo. Percy is a TV show host and…." He paused, realizing the concept was completely foreign to the yeti. 

"Okay, this will take a little explaining. Do you know what a TV is?" Dallin glanced at Migo.

Migo shook his head with a confused look.

"A TV is...a box, that shows moving pictures on the screen...the front, that is. Smallfeet watch all sorts of things on them. Got it?"

Migo nodded. "I think so." He watched and listened carefully, taking in Dallin's every word.

"Percy travels to a bunch of different places, with different animals, and a cameraman takes pictures of him for the TV. His show, Percy Patterson's Wildlife is about other species. He's seen a lot, from what I understand."

"Whoa." Migo looked amazed. "I had no idea he had such an awesome job! But what's a Patterson?"

Dallin walked to the house next to the one Migo was working on. "What? That's not anything. It's Percy's last name."

Migo raised an eyebrow in confusion. Dallin mentally facepalmed. Yetis didn't have last names.

"Last names are...exactly that. Last names. Smallfeet have more than one name….in their name." Dallin cringed at his explanation. "Most have a first name, then a middle name, and a last name."

He paused to think for a bit. "I guess you could just think of a last name as a family name. Then the first and middle names are more individual."

Migo narrowed his eyes, piecing it all together.

"My first name is Dallin." continued Dallin. Migo nodded. 

"My last name is Ridge, so my family's name is Ridge. And my middle name is Porter, after one of my uncles."

He looked back in Percy's direction. "Percy's last name is Patterson. You with me?"

"I think so." Migo repeated with a smile. "What's his middle name?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know for sure that he has one. Some people don't."

"So...your name is all of those combined?"

Dallin grinned. "Yep. And when someone calls you by your full name, it usually means you're in big trouble."

Migo blinked. "It does?"

Dallin laughed. "That's how it was when I was growing up. You pray you never hear the three in the same sentence. When my brothers and I got into trouble, and our mom called us by our full names, we  _ knew  _ we'd messed up big time."

He looked around for another door to clear, and began walking, leaving Migo to follow. "I'm sure if you ask Percy, he'll tell you the same."

"Hmmm." Migo hummed.

Dallin looked back at him with a smile. "You also should ask him sometime about the places he's traveled to. I think he's been all over the world, filming animals for his show."

Percy came back then, brushing snow off his coat. Migo smiled and waved him over to start asking questions. Dallin couldn't help but smile. Migo's curiosity was intense.

He stood up straight, looking around the street for more snow blocked doors. Most people here had already cleared their own snow, or were almost done.

Migo, still talking to Percy on his shoulder, glanced around, and deciding they'd done what they could, began to head back to the clearing outside the city.

Dallin followed, waving to the grateful smallfeet now free to get on with their days.

Their normal, uneventful days. Dallin sighed, becoming somber. When would  _ he  _ get to go back to  _ his  _ normal, uneventful days?

He'd come to enjoy being a yeti, and doing things no human could do, and he  _ would  _ miss it. He enjoyed hanging out in the yeti village, in a body that could take the harsh conditions with no problem.

But it didn't feel like home. 

Even as he felt the freedom of leaping across ravines, he was always aware that this body, and that life in the yeti village weren't his. 

He  _ belonged  _ in this city, and it was as if his body knew it.

Dallin jogged to catch up with Migo as they arrived in the clearing. Migo put Percy down, and continued to ask him questions, leaving Dallin on his own.

Looking around, Dallin decided to wander a bit, in hopes of running into Dr. Laker. He wanted to ask about the broken empathy device. 

And, while he was out, he might as well say hello to some of the people he knew.

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem looked around as Kolka finally carried him back to the edge of the smallfoot village. To his relief, there was no sign of Dallin. He still couldn't bring himself to warm up to the smallfoot in  _ his  _ body.

Kolka had spent the last hour forcing him to try to tell her about life as a smallfoot. But he had had no idea what signs to use, and he couldn't focus through the drowsiness that had followed him the moment he woke up in the morning. So he was even more drained now.

Migo crouched to talk to Percy in the clearing, and Meechee and Gwangi were talking to Brenda. All of them looked up as Kolka approached, holding Fleem with one hand, and started growling at them. But to his frustration, she didn't put him down. He kicked a little bit, and pushed down against her hand, trying to get her to let go. But she lightly tightened her grip on his waist instead.

Fleem groaned in irritation. Was she enjoying this? 

He glared up at her, but she wasn't paying attention. The rest of the S.E.S gathered around, including Percy and Brenda. Unintelligible growls came from all sides.

Fleem growled too, in frustration. "Ugh! Kolka!" He struggled to break her grip, making her glance down at him in annoyance and roll her eyes. But she relented, setting him back on his feet.  _ Finally. _

He marched off, intending to take some alone time. 

He didn't make it very far. The snow got deeper the way he went, and he promptly sank up to his waist. He growled again and tried to push himself free on either side. But his bare hands only sank into the freezing cold snow, with nothing solid to brace themselves against. He was stuck, and his hands were now cold.

Someone came towards him, having seen the whole thing. Fleem knew it was Kolka before glancing back at her. She shook her head with a smile, and reached down to pull him out of the snow. She set him down to let him brush himself and his blanket off indignantly.

"Thanks." He muttered reluctantly.

Fleem took a step back, about to turn and continue walking, when it happened again. "Rrrgh! Stupid snow!" He fought to free himself, but it wasn't working. Kolka raised an eyebrow as she watched him struggle.

"Have  _ you  _ ever been turned into a smallfoot?" He snapped. "It's much harder than it looks!"

He covered his head like a cloak with his blanket as Kolka lifted him out again.

This time, Fleem checked all around himself to make sure the snow wasn't too deep. He began walking again, and Kolka finally retreated back to the group, satisfied that he was fine now.

And he was, for about two minutes.

Trying to hike up a snow drift, he sank again, this time up to his shoulders. His blanket was trapped with him, soaking up water. He glared at it and tried to lift it higher than the snow to no avail.

"You stuck?" Fleem turned his glare on Percy, who sat on Migo's shoulder above him.

"It's not my fault these feet can't walk on snow!" He thrashed around, only managing to throw snow around.

Migo reached into the snow and pulled Fleem free, covered in snow. Fleem reluctantly let go of the wet blanket. It wouldn't help him like this. He did his best to smack the snow off his coat and legs as Migo lifted him to his other shoulder.

Situating himself, Fleem sighed. "When is Dr. Laker going to finish that device?"

Percy shrugged. "He texted me a bit ago. He worked all night on it, and he's making progress. But we're still gonna have to be patient."

Fleem grumbled.

Migo looked back and forth between the two, not understanding either of them. Percy smiled fondly at him, and signed something at him. Migo nodded and started moving.

Percy looked back at Fleem.

"What does Migo do when he's not down here?"

Fleem brushed some snow off his shoulder. "Wish he were still down here."

Percy huffed. "I'm serious."

Fleem ran his hands through his hair, feeling snow there too. "Before he met you, he was boring. He helped make ice balls to stuff down a tube, refused to ask questions, and even tried to hit his head on a gong. Can't imagine why."

Percy stared at him, waiting for more.

Fleem shrugged. "That  _ is _ what he did. Then he found you, and he's become a new yeti. He's  _ obsessed  _ with questions now. None of us thought we'd ever see the day."

Percy hummed. "Things are well then, up on the mountain? Since I was there?"

Fleem shrugged again. "It's alright. Everything has changed. Migo in particular gets a lot of attention and questions every single day. It's like the day you showed up every day."

Percy opened his mouth, seeming hesitant. "If I could ask….I've been wondering ever since...why  _ did _ Migo leave me to die that day? What happened?"

Fleem paused. Something told him this time, he would have to choose his words very carefully.

"He was brainwashed." He blurted out.

Percy blinked. "What?"

"The Stonekeeper led him away into a deep dark cave, and convinced Migo that smallfeet were dangerous. Migo believed him, and told the village you were a yak."

"A  _ yak? _ "

Fleem smirked. "That's exactly how Meechee responded. She was the one who brought you back down here, since Migo wasn't going to."

Percy looked down, looking perplexed. "Migo thought I was dangerous?"

Fleem cocked his head. "Yup. You can tell from those evil eyes of yours, and perfect teeth. Who knows what you were planning? You could have turned on Migo at any moment, if you hadn't been dying at the time."

Percy looked back at Fleem, almost pleading. "What did I do to make him think that?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"But…"

"It was your ancestors that made him think that."

Percy stared for a moment, and then it clicked. He looked down again. "Oh. But they didn't….they were  _ scared,  _ and humans do drastic things when they're scared."

Fleem kept his eyes on him. "Turns out yetis do too. Drastic things, like letting a poor helpless smallfoot die to protect the village."

Migo glanced at Percy, noticing his sudden change of mood. He made a questioning gesture, looking worried. 

Percy shook his head and plastered a smile back on his face. "It's nothing, Migo. Just lost in thought. Hey, we're here!"

Fleem looked around with a frown. "The woods?"

Percy nodded. "Great place to hang out for a while. Stretch our legs."

"I guess." 

Fleem looked around at the sunlit woods. Even as a smallfoot, he decided he could enjoy their beauty.

Migo put him and Percy down to let them walk around. Kolka and Gwangi had followed, watching them with smiles. Meechee must have stayed back with Brenda.

Fleem stepped carefully, not wanting to get stuck in the snow yet again in front of everyone. He relaxed. The snow here wasn't that deep.

He walked around a bit, stretching. 

The yetis chatted happily, enjoying the sights. A little  _ too  _ happily.

Casting a sidelong glance at Kolka, Fleem crouched to grab a handful of snow, turning to hide what he was doing.

Kolka stood next to Gwangi, saying who knew what. Smirking, Fleem whipped around and hurled his freshly made snowball directly at her.

It dinged her right in the side of the head.

Startled, she snapped around, letting out a loud growl. His name.

Fleem blinked innocently as he stalked around her. "What was that? I can't understand you. Besides, what are you gonna do about it? I'm just a  _ smallfoot. _ You wouldn't hurt a little smallfoot, would you?"

Kolka huffed and wiped the side of her head with her hand. Fleem grabbed some more snow and threw it at Gwangi this time. He was too tall for Fleem to hit in the face, so it puffed harmlessly into his fur. Gwangi sighed in exasperation.

But neither of them did anything, even when Fleem kept it up. 

Percy frowned at him. "Why?"

Fleem grinned. "Why not?"

"Because you probably want to be on good terms with your friends?"

Fleem scoffed. "Kolka's been in my face all morning. Besides, the way the past couple of days have been going, I  _ need  _ to throw something." He threw another snowball, watching it splat on Kolka's shoulder. 

She brushed it off and walked towards him, growling something. Fleem dropped the next bit of snow he'd grabbed, holding his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine, fine, I'll stop. See? I don't have any more."

Kolka folded her arms. She really was big now.

Fleem sighed. "Fine. What did you drag me out here to do?"

"Just to explore." answered Percy, as Migo let him back onto his shoulder. "Let's go."

Fleem glanced back at Kolka. Her expression promised no nonsense.

"Ugh,  _ fine." _ Fleem climbed onto Migo's offered hand and sat down on his other shoulder again. "But let's not take too long. I'd much rather be on the ground."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ughhhhh, this one took quite a bit longer than usual. Sorry about that.  
> Have you ever had writer's block for dialogue instead of the plot? My soul probably left my body a few times while I got through....but I'm good now that it's done! 😅 Enjoy!

Dallin turned as Kolka, Gwangi and Migo returned to the clearing with Percy and Fleem.

Immediately, his eyes went to his own body on Migo's shoulder, as usual. Fleem shot him a glance from the corner of his eye, but his wariness seemed less….cold. In fact, he seemed resigned.

Dallin looked at Migo in bewilderment. "What did you do to him?"

"Just a little tough love." Kolka responded. She looked at Fleem. "Right now, he's just pretending that he's too miserable to cheer up."

She shrugged. "You're up, Dallin."

Dallin blinked. "Uh…"

Kolka put a hand on his shoulder. "We know him. He won't admit it, but he's as curious as the rest of us to see more of this world."

Dallin bit his furry lip. "Yeah, but he hates me. He'll just ignore me."

Kolka smiled gently. "Go ahead and surprise him, and he might surprise you."

Dallin looked back at Fleem as Migo put him down, making sure the snow wasn't too deep. Fleem looked warily at Kolka as she, Gwangi and Migo bailed, taking Percy and leaving the two alone.

Dallin cleared his throat awkwardly. "So. It's just you and me….again. Not so bad...yesterday went all right, I think, and I really think we're starting to make a connection." He smiled awkwardly, glad that Fleem didn't understand what he was saying. He was no good at this kind of situation.

Fleem sighed as he looked up at Dallin, looking defeated.

Well, it was better than being glared at and ignored all day.

Dallin rubbed his hands together nervously, and looked around. "I think we're supposed to find something to look at or do together, but I just see snow. How are you holding up, by the way? Are you still cold after last night?"

Fleem stared at him flatly, understanding none of it. But Dallin was sure he'd be making the exact same face either way. He chuckled nervously. "Yeah, good answer. It's a stupid question. So you know what, let's lay off the talking for a moment, and just build a snowman or something. You probably did that as a kid too, right?"

Dallin glanced at the nearby Yak Shack and began walking stiffly in the opposite direction. It was probably best if his bosses didn't see Fleem.

He peeked over his shoulder, and was relieved to see Fleem trudging after him, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Okay, this is a good spot, right?" Dallin looked around, then at Fleem again. Fleem folded his arms, cocked his head and raised his eyebrow, waiting to see what Dallin would do.

Dallin crouched and shoved his hands into the snow, grabbing a couple handfuls. He didn't even feel the cold through his thick skinned hands.

Molding it into a ball as best as he could, Dallin dumped the misshapen lump onto the ground in front of him.

"Okay, not my best snowball, but it'll work." Dallin muttered under his breath. "If I just smooth this over, add some snow here, get rid of this…."

Fleem's eyes bore into his back, until he couldn't help but glance at him again. Fleem looked rather confused, and exasperated.  _ Are you seriously doing this?  _ His face seemed to say.

Dallin awkwardly turned back to his sorry art project, scooping up some more snow to stack on top. He should have made a snow cave instead. That would've been more impressive.

A small poke on his arm got his attention. Dallin looked down at Fleem as he made his way around the clumps of snow, inspecting them. He shook his head, giving Dallin an unimpressed look.

Dallin shrugged helplessly. "This isn't the best packing snow for this."

With a sigh of resignation, Fleem crouched to scoop up some snow of his own, using his oversized sleeves to cover his hands.

"You know I have a coat and gloves at my house right? You didn't have to wear that."

Fleem eyed him, glancing at the coat when Dallin pointed at it. His eyes narrowed.

Dallin held up his hands in surrender. "Just saying."

Fleem ignored him, and began to roll his snowball along the ground, making it bigger.

Dallin watched him, until the snowball was almost too big for Fleem to move, and just as misshapen as Dallin's.

Panting, Fleem stood up and gestured towards Dallin's snowball.

A little uncertain, Dallin picked it up, watching Fleem for any sign that he had misunderstood, even though Fleem couldn't have been more clear.

Fleem rolled his eyes and pointed towards Dallin's snowball again, saying something in gibberish.

Dallin cursed his awkwardness and timidity, and slapped the snowball onto his sorry excuse of a snowman bottom. Now the middle was bigger than the bottom….

_ Piff. _

Dallin jumped as a snowball splatted onto his back. "Hey!"

He faced Fleem, who looked quite satisfied with himself. "What was that for?"

He reached an arm around to brush off the snow that was now stuck in his fur.

Fleem cocked his head curiously, and blinked innocently, then simply began to roll another snowball for the top of the snowman.

A minute later, another snowball hit his shoulder. Dallin turned and frowned at Fleem, who was already lumping together another one. "Why are you throwing those at  _ me?  _ The snowman is right here!"

In response, Fleem chucked his new snowball at Dallin's face. Dallin held an arm up to shield it, grimaced and shook off the snow.

He pointed at the snowman again. "Throw snow at that!"

Fleem smirked, gestured at the head he'd already rolled and grabbed some more snow.

Dallin grabbed it and turned his back against Fleem's attacks as he completed the snowman body.

_ Piff. _

Dallin ignored the snowball as he frowned at the snowman. It was one of the ugliest things he'd ever seen.

Fleem agreed. Dallin saw him approach from the corner of his eye, and stand next to him. His expression was of what he interpreted as a combination of disgust and morbid curiosity.

Dallin gave Fleem an uncomfortable glance as he held up a couple of rocks he'd found, and stuck them onto the sides of the snowman's head.

"Horns? It doesn't even have a face."

Fleem dusted the snow off his coat sleeves as he looked challengingly up at Dallin.

Dallin eyed the ugly thing again. "You'd rather this be a snow  _ yeti?  _ I'd pity any yeti that looked like this."

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Dallin turned as Meechee approached. Her eyes went to their art project. "Oh. What's this?"

Dallin rubbed the back of his head, trying to stifle his embarrassment. "It's supposed to be a snowman...or a snow yeti….I think."

Meechee looked it up and down, obviously unsure of what to say.

Fleem threw another snowball at Dallin, as if throwing all the blame on him for its creation.

"Just say it's hideous." Dallin chuckled awkwardly. "I haven't built a snowman since I was a kid, and my dad was the one who did all the work, really. This one looks more like a snow hoodoo."

"Well, you did your best." Meechee answered diplomatically. "You're not used to yeti hands after all. And Fleem isn't used to smallfoot hands."

Dallin scowled at Fleem, who had another snowball to throw. "Yeah. Sure."

Meechee smiled. "Carry on, then."

She walked off to find everyone else again.

Dallin braced himself, waiting for the snowball to hit. 

Nothing.

He peeked at Fleem. He'd gotten distracted by something.

Dallin followed his gaze, and started. "Dr. Laker!"

That scientist always seemed to appear out of thin air!

He stood nearby, looking from Dallin to Fleem. He looked exhausted.

Taking a step closer, he started talking, babbling in 'smallfoot to yeti' language. He seemed agitated about something.

Heart quickening, Dallin looked expectantly at Fleem. "Uh, Fleem? Translate?"

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem considered throwing the snowball at Dr. Laker just to get him to talk more sense.

"What do you mean, 'fried'"? Fleem did his best to pretend he didn't suspect it sounded like he thought it sounded.

"That doesn't just happen! You set the device on  _ fire,  _ and  _ cooked  _ it!?"

Dr. Laker shook his head frantically. "No! It just got a little overheated, and the broken parts couldn't handle it. So they burned, and took the good parts with them!"

Fleem stared at him, unable to move or talk for a moment. 

That device was  _ all they had  _ to work with. Dr. Laker was trying to trick him. He had to be!

Dallin growled in frustration next to him, crouching and gesturing insistently for Fleem to explain what was going on. 

Fleem huffed in annoyance and turned to him. "This smallfoot destroyed his own device. Can you believe it?" He tried to sign to him, but he didn't know what signs to use. Dallin watched him, trying to make out what he was saying. He shrugged, confusion evident.

Fleem pointed at Dr. Laker, who had gotten distracted by the disaster of a snow yeti behind them. "He." Dallin nodded. 

Fleem signed 'break'. "Broke the device." Dallin lurched back in sudden realization. His wide eyed gaze shot to Dr. Laker.

Dr. Laker shook his head. "Not me." He signed. "I did everything I could to fix it, but it was too damaged to handle the test I tried."

"What about the other one? That one isn't broken, right?" Fleem asked.

Dr. Laker looked down. "One of my assistants went and messed with it, and triggered a security lockdown. And the pass code isn't working. If I try too hard to break through, the prototype is designed to overload, and shut down for good. We'd have to wait a day even if both of the prototypes were functional."

He signed this to Dallin, since Fleem didn't know how.

Dallin shook his head in dismay.

"Why are  _ you  _ so upset? Being a yeti is  _ way  _ better than being a smallfoot. Now you get to stay one." Fleem told him bitterly, and threw the snowball, masking his own fears.

Dr. Laker was supposed to fix everything! After all, this was his fault to begin with. 

Dallin began to sign to Dr. Laker. He looked determined now. Fleem narrowed his eyes. "What are you telling him?" He asked suspiciously.

Dr. Laker cautiously tried to sign back. "You want to….see it? The prototype?" He gestured to his eyes and then cupped his hands as if holding the device.

Dallin nodded.

Dr. Laker sighed. "You won't be able to do anything. It's  _ far  _ beyond repair now." His face changed suddenly. "But there is something else….maybe…." He nodded in the direction he came, into the smallfoot village. "I moved both of them to my house after my assistant triggered the good one's lockdown. You can look, I suppose, but don't touch. I just had an idea that could potentially still work. Right this way."

He started walking, and Dallin followed with tiny steps to match Dr. Laker's smallfoot stride.

Fleem glanced around, but there were no signs of the S.E.S, or Percy, or even Brenda. No one else knew he was actually a yeti.

Fleem was hit by a wave of nervousness. He didn't want to be lost by himself again. 

He ran after the two. "Wait up!" He called, glancing around at the maze of buildings.

Dallin glanced back, and let him catch up. The three continued in silence.

Fleem still hadn't gotten used to how different the smallfoot village was to a smallfoot. The height difference was extremely noticeable. Things stood out that he hadn't noticed before, like the insides of the buildings behind those windows.

It was like a completely different world. 

Since he'd started wearing the coat and boots, the other smallfeet walking and riding on the streets and sidewalks had stopped staring at him as he passed. But he still felt completely out of place here, like a red rock fruit thrown in with the greens.

Even as a yeti, he'd felt more comfortable here.

Fleem shuddered and looked at Dr. Laker's back in front of him. "You built those devices. Can't you just build two more?"

Dr. Laker glanced back and then faced forward before he answered. "I've never been able to recreate anything I've invented, though I try."

_ Of course. _

Fleem fell silent again, until Dr. Laker stopped in front of a small smallfoot house. It was a wonder any smallfoot could find  _ anything  _ at all in this place.

Dr. Laker glanced up at Dallin. "Er, I'll bring them out here, so both of you can see them." He disappeared through the door, leaving Dallin and Fleem alone again. Both of them sighed. They were probably thinking along the same lines of thought, but when Fleem glanced at Dallin, he was avoiding eye contact.

Fleem shook his head.  _ Weird kid. _

The door opened, and Dr. Laker came out, holding both misshapen black objects, and another silver one.

Fleem cocked his head and pointed at it. "What's that?"

Dr. Laker held it up. "This nifty little thing was part of my inspiration for these devices' models. It was supposed to create a connection between two living beings."

He shrugged. "It ended up just making them appear somewhere else in the room. I've been studying it a bit in my free time, since it's similar to your current dilemma. It could possibly be the key to solving this."

"How?" Fleem reached out to take the silver device, but Dr. Laker held it out of reach. "Don't touch. It's similarities could possibly make it compatible with this one." He held up the undamaged device. "With a few modifications."

"Do it, then." Fleem insisted. Dallin let out confused growls. Fleem groaned and translated Dr. Laker's idea. Paraphrasing of course.

An odd sound came from the silver device. Dr. Laker was fiddling with it. "What's it doing?" Fleem asked suspiciously.

Dr. Laker bit his lip in concentration. "It's scanning you. So it can work." He quickly added the last part as Fleem stepped back.

"There. Done." He glanced at Fleem. "You're in the system."

Before Fleem could ask what that meant, sudden cold shot through his body as if the wind had gone inside him. A jolt went through his chest and stomach, making him gasp.

The effect passed as fast as it came.

Fleem blinked and looked around. He almost jumped and fell in his shock.

"Uh, no, you're wrong!" He shouted downwards. "I'm not in the system! I'm on the roof!"

Dr. Laker and Dallin looked up, mouths agape. Fleem gave him a flat stare. "Maybe you should keep your crazy machines to yourself until that thing will put me back into my body instead."

Dr. Laker ran a hand nervously through his red hair. "Sorry about that."

Fleem looked around again. "How do I get down?"

Dr. Laker gestured to Dallin. "Your friend can help you."

Fleem scowled. "He's not my friend. Don't you have a ladder instead?"

Dr. Laker hesitated. "I misplace a lot of my tools." Fleem sighed. "Let me guess. One of those monstrosities you built sent it away to some unknown wasteland?"

"Close enough."

Fleem groaned. 

Dr. Laker waved to Dallin, signing for him to get Fleem down. The smallfoot-yeti nervously shuffled his feet before inching forward to comply. Fleem swallowed his pride and let him.

Dallin lifted him and set him back on the ground quickly, as if he were afraid of touching him. Fleem gave him a weird look. "Seriously, what's up with you?"

"You all right?" Dr. Laker asked Fleem. Fleem backed away from him. "Just keep that thing away from me."

"Right. Right." Dr. Laker looked around distractedly.

Fleem eyed the devices from what seemed like a safe distance. "How soon can you switch us back?"

Dr. Laker rubbed the back of one hand over his face, still clutching a device. "Hard to say, my friend." He stifled a yawn. "I will try everything that can be done."

Dallin got his attention and put both hands beside his head, in a sleeping gesture.

Dr. Laker nodded. "Including sleep, I suppose. How'd you know I forgot to last night?"

Fleem rolled his eyes at him and looked up at Dallin. "Where did everyone else go? I'm ready to get out of here for a while."

Dallin shrugged, not understanding. Ugh. Trying to communicate with smallfeet was more trouble than it was worth.

Fleem pointed frustratedly back at the street they had come on. Dallin blinked, and nodded.

Dr. Laker shook his head, blinking away drowsiness. "Yes, yes. I really should be working now, too. Go find your other friends and tell them not to worry. One way or another, this will be over soon."

Dallin took an eternity signing his goodbyes and good lucks. Fleem stood impatiently off to the side, until Dr. Laker finally went back inside with those death machines. 

Dallin gave him a nod and started walking. 

"Not too fast." Fleem grumbled. "I'm counting on you to make sure I don't get lost."

Shivering a little, he instinctively reached to pull his blanket tighter around him, only to feel empty air. He grunted. He needed to get that thing back. It had to be dry by now.

He jogged to catch up with Dallin. "You know, I'm having a hard time deciding what I think of you. I'm surprised no one has gotten suspicious of you, because you look  _ so  _ out of place in that body. Too jumpy and paranoid, like Gwangi." He smirked mischievously before narrowing his eyes.

"But don't think that because I'm talking to you, it means we're friends."

Dallin glanced at him uncomfortably. Fleem was pretty sure he had guessed that meant.


	11. Chapter 11

Yet another night passed. Dallin still didn't understand why Fleem would choose to sleep on a rock. With his fur, and the blanket of mammoth fur, it wasn't the _worst_ thing ever. But it was uncomfortable enough to make him toss and turn. He'd take his own bed in his own body any day.

He'd also run into Fleem's mom a few more times, each night he'd been here. Each time, she'd looked exhausted and had been all too willing to send him off to bed without much of a conversation. Then she was gone in the mornings, and Dallin never saw her out in the village.

Dallin yawned hugely, smoothing down his messy morning fur as he stepped outside Fleem's house. The sun was just rising over the mountain, chasing away the lingering shadows.

Many yetis were already up, playing games, talking and carving things from ice. Dallin stretched as he scanned the village. It was odd to think that everyone else's lives were just being carried on as normal. It was _crazy._ Nothing felt normal anymore to Dallin.

Nearby, he caught sight of three yetis playing their version of bowling. One swung an ice ball underhand, knocking down all the rocks they had set up. "Nice strike!" He called out as he jogged over.

The yetis immediately looked at him in confusion and surprise. "What?"

 _Whoops. Forgot._ Dallin quickly thought something up. "Well, that's what smallfeet call it anyway. When you hit all the pins. Rocks." He corrected himself, hoping he'd said the right thing.

The yetis stared at him, as if wondering why he was talking to them. Dallin got a little nervous. Had he done something wrong? He shrugged. "I've been learning about bowling. From the smallfeet, of course."

It was probably safe to assume that Dallin didn't make a good Fleem. He had no idea how these yetis expected him to act.

"So….you got room for one more?" Dallin blurted it out, at the same time he thought about just walking away and finding the S.E.S.

The yetis exchanged uncertain glances, leaving him in suspense for a moment. "Sure." One with white-brown fur finally said.

Dallin glanced at the sun. He had time. The sun wouldn't have risen enough at the city to leave yet.

Another yeti with dark brown fur set the rock pins back up, and grabbed the ice ball. "Reni is keeping score." He told Dallin, gesturing the last yeti sitting on a rock. She nodded to him. "I'll add you to the board." Using her finger, she drew a stick figure yeti into the snow, next to three others. "Are we starting over then?"

"No! We can't quit this game! Not now!" The white-brown yeti insisted with wide eyes. The brown yeti nudged him playfully. "You're just saying that because you're losing."

"No! I just….well, Fleem says he's been learning about this game. I want to see if he can beat us with an unfair disadvantage."

The brown yeti chuckled. "Will that make you feel better about your own playing?"

Dallin shuffled his feet. "Oh, I'm not _good_ at it. I've only ever bowled a couple of times." His mutter fell on dead ears.

The brown yeti tossed him the ice ball. "Go for it, champ. Better play hard if you're gonna catch up."

Dallin barely caught it. As he stared down the rock pins, he noticed the two gutters dug into the ground itself. _I should have just walked away._

Using the holes chiseled into the ice ball, he rolled it with all he had.

It took one pin before rolling into the gutter.

Dallin smiled sheepishly. "I'm not that good at this." He repeated. The white-brown yeti nudged his shoulder teasingly as Reni marked his points under his stick figure. "Game isn't over yet."

Reni sauntered up for her turn, and hit a perfect strike. She smirked at Dallin. "Good luck. Practice makes perfect."

As the game continued, Dallin relaxed and started having fun. All the teasing he got from the yetis was entirely good-humored. 

They also seemed more comfortable now, as if realizing that Dallin was fun. They laughed and thumped him on the back the best they could with their height differences. They lost the suspicious glints in their eyes, and the uncomfortable body language.

_Wonder what that says about Fleem._

But Dallin had stopped worrying about the fact that he wasn't in character. These yetis didn't mind, so he didn't either.

Finally, Reni called "game", with a score that put everyone else's to shame. The other two yetis groaned.

"That's my third win in a row. You want another go?" Reni smirked. 

Dallin glanced over his shoulder, and saw Migo, Meechee, Gwangi and Kolka approaching. "I've got to go." He smiled sheepishly. "Good game."

The three yetis exchanged another glance, looking confused and baffled at 'Fleem's change of character. "Yeah. It was." The white-brown yeti nodded with a smile. "You're actually pretty cool, Fleem." He held up a fist for Dallin to bump.

Dallin gave a last, "thanks", and walked over to greet the S.E.S.

Meechee smiled at him. "Good morning. You seem to be getting along well in the village."

Dallin nodded. "Yep. But I can tell I'm not doing what Fleem would do."

Kolka shook her head with amusement. "No. Definitely not. It seems so obvious now. I don't see how we ever thought you were Fleem."

Dallin chuckled. "Well, any tips?"

Kolka lightly punched his arm. "Simple. Be a pain in the neck."

"Oh. Is he that bad?"

Kolka smiled softly. "He _is_ a pain in the neck, and he doesn't really seem to like anyone that much. But for all it's worth, he's _our_ pain in the neck. Beyond that, he gives much more to the S.E.S than he thinks."

As one, the group began walking towards the rock fruit stands. "He seems pretty mad that I stole his body." Dallin joked. 

Meechee gave him a sly smile. "Right off his soul. Malicious intent included." Everyone laughed at that.

Then as they chose some red fruit, the S.E.S grew somber.

"I still find it kind of hard to believe." said Migo. "I look at you, and I see Fleem. But you're not Fleem."

"And all we can do to get Fleem back is wait." Meechee chimed in sadly. She shoved her face into her rock fruit.

"What are you talking about?" A new voice came out of nowhere and made all of them flinch violently.

"Thorp!" Meechee blurted out. "Were you eavesdropping?"

Her brother ignored the question. "Why would you need to get Fleem back? He's right there." He pointed at Dallin.

Dallin stared at him like a deer in headlights. "Uhhhhh…."

Both Kolka and Meechee tried to think quickly of an explanation. Migo and Gwangi glanced at each other in stumped panic while Thorp waited expectantly with a slight scowl.

Dallin finally let his shoulders slump. _Oh, what's the use? There's no lie that can explain this._

"I'm not Fleem. I'm a smallfoot." He told Thorp.

"Huh?" Thorp raised an eyebrow at him. Dallin ran a hand through his arm fur uncomfortably. "Fleem and I switched bodies." _I still sound crazy._

Thorp glanced around at the S.E.S with an unimpressed look. "What kind of joke are you playing?"

Meechee shrugged sheepishly. "It's not a joke."

"Yeah!" Kolka chimed in. "There's a smallfoot who built a device that switched Fleem and Dallin."

"Mmhmm." Gwangi nodded. Migo simply grinned awkwardly.

Thorp looked back at Dallin, wide eyed. "What? Really?" Dallin nodded and shifted from foot to foot. "My name is Dallin. Fleem is in my body, staying with Percy. Migo's friend."

"Whoa." Thorp blinked.

Meechee sighed. "We're going down in a bit to see him, before the rest of the village. I guess now you can come with us. We're the only other ones who know. Even Dad doesn't know, and we don't know how to tell him."

Everyone glanced towards the palace, where the Stonekeeper was talking with some yetis. "Shhh." Meechee held a finger to her lips. "Get some rock fruit."

Thorp shook his head, as if clearing his mind, and his face took on a childlike determination. "Got it." He snatched up a whole fruit.

Dallin looked down at his, lost in thought. These fruits were almost like edible geodes. _That would be a better name for them than 'rock fruit'._

Maybe he would be the one to officially name them. When he got back. _If_ he got back.

His mood fell a little as he thought of Dr. Laker. What if the technical difficulties were too much?

He dug in, no longer caring about the sticky juice. Dr. Laker was a mystery to the world. He accidentally invented the impossible, but he could only do it once each time. He had never been able to create the exact same invention twice.

So if the old model didn't work with the new one, Dallin and Fleem would truly be beyond help.

Dallin would never get to visit his family again. He would never again understand the people he met in the city. He would spend the rest of his life climbing and jumping off the mountain, sleeping on a rock, and trying to communicate with people on the other side of the language barrier.

He glanced at the sun again as he, Thorp and the S.E.S finished breakfast.

"You ready? Let's go." Meechee and Kolka grinned.

"Mmhmm." said Gwangi.

Thorp kept glancing around suspiciously at any yeti that passed, trying too hard to keep their secret.

Dallin tossed his empty rind into the pile, for other villagers to use for their own purposes, and scooped up some snow to wash his face.

Kolka seemed to notice Dallin's change of mood. "We'll get you home." She told him gently. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, hugging him from the side.

Dallin forced a smile for her benefit, and nodded in acknowledgment.

But doubts were still there, in the back of his mind.

* * *

**Fleem:**

The next morning, when Fleem got up early, Percy made him help cook breakfast.

He scowled down at the sizzling pancakes in the pan. Percy had told him to flip them over once one side had cooked, but how was he supposed to know when they were ready when he could only see the liquidy side?

He held up the utensil he'd been given, called a 'spatula'. Which smallfoot had come up with the name for this odd thing?

"Just lift them up a little bit and check to see if they're golden brown on the other side." Percy instructed.

Fleem threw him a glance, and struggled to get the spatula under one of the pancakes. Percy made it look so easy.

Finally, he flipped it to it's other side, prompting more sizzling noises from the pan. And the smell, combined with that of the eggs Percy was cooking on the stove next to him...

Fleem would never admit it out loud, but he had come to greatly appreciate the variety of smallfoot food. Percy had several books filled with all sorts of recipes, with ingredients he hadn't heard of. Smallfeet seemed to get bored of the same foods rather quickly, while yetis were content with the same fruits for almost every meal.

If Fleem was going to miss any part of being a smallfoot, it would be that.

Flipping the last pancake, he sighed. Would the other sides take just as long? The smell was making his mouth water, and just standing there watching them made him want to pull out what little fur he had on his head.

The village would probably be down before they were done!

Letting himself zone out, he found his thoughts drifting to Dallin. Was this how the smallfoot-yeti lived his life every day?

Percy had noted that Dallin was barely more than a kid, if this body was any indication. That would likely place him around Fleem's own age, if smallfoot lifespans were the same as yetis'.

But the similarities ended there.

Fleem hadn't missed the way Dallin looked at him whenever they were forced to interact. His eyes constantly shifted, but he glanced at Fleem over and over again, as if he were worried about what he would do. He jumped practically whenever Fleem moved.

He almost seemed…...afraid of Fleem.

Fleem slightly shook his head at the thought. It was beyond his comprehension. None of the smallfeet had been intimidated by him as a yeti. What could there _possibly_ be about Fleem to be scared of now? 

Percy looked over at him, and stiffened. "Whoa, whoa, careful. Don't burn those." He took the spatula from Fleem and flipped the pancakes onto a plate, on top of the stack.

"Are we done yet?" Fleem did his best to mask the eagerness in his voice.

Percy's smile was wary. "All right. Fine. Take this to the table." He shoved the plate into Fleem's hands.

Fleem sat down, putting the plate in front of him on the table. But Percy called him back to help bring everything else. Fleem itched with impatience, but forced himself not to complain for once.

On his way back with a couple of plates and forks, his eyes went to the magic picture box in Percy's living room. Percy had decided to listen to 'the news' while cooking, but Fleem didn't see the appeal. If he wanted to know about the weather, he'd just look up at the sky.

Percy brought a platter of eggs, watching the smallfoot in the moving picture with a frown. "I'd better see about getting the heating fixed today." He said. "Looks like we're going to get some more snow later tonight. A lot more."

Fleem shuddered, remembering the last snow storm. Percy had gotten the window replaced, but he still imagined he could feel the biting wind blowing over him. "Oh great. Perfect."

Percy picked up the magic stick with raised dots and shut off the picture box. "Yup. But I'd rather not worry about it right now. Let's eat before this gets cold." 

Fleem wasn't about to complain there. The moment everything was ready, he had the first five bites already down his throat.

Percy sighed and shook his head before starting to eat his own food. "What are you gonna do if Dr. Laker's device doesn't work?"

Fleem scoffed. "What are you blabbering about? Of course it's going to work."

"But what if it _doesn't?_ Do you have a backup plan? Where are you going to live, and how are you going to settle here?"

Fleem glared at him, offended. "Are you that eager to get rid of me?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "You're the one whining about how you don't want to be here."

Fleem huffed and turned his frustration towards his food, stabbing the pancake with his fork.

"Dr. Laker is doing all he can." Percy continued. "But we have to face the possibility that it isn't enough. I can't keep going like this forever. I have a job, and I don't think I should have to drag you along wherever I go."

Fleem shut him out. Of course the device would work! If it could magically teleport him to Dr. Laker's roof, it could put him back into his body. Percy was just being paranoid. Hopefully.

Who was Fleem trying to convince of this?

* * *

Fleem pulled the now dry blanket over his head like a hood.

Boy was he glad to have it back. It didn't do much to help his coat keep him warm, but it strangely brought him a level of comfort to be able to hide his face whenever he wanted.

He greeted Kolka with a nod and a small wave. "Long time no see." He said flatly. Kolka smiled, and picked him up, prompting a sigh.

Fleem let himself go limp and greeted the other members of the S.E.S, reluctantly including Dallin.

And….Thorp?

Fleem perked up and glanced at Kolka. "What's _he_ doing here?" He pointed at Thorp so she understood.

Meechee, next to them, started signing, and growling. Fleem scrunched up his face. "I don't understand a word of that."

Dallin growled softly, and waved for his attention. He gestured between himself and Fleem, then at Thorp. 

Fleem thought he understood. "What, he knows now?"

Dallin nodded and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Thorp looked completely mind blown. After glancing from Dallin and Fleem, he put his hands to his head, as if trying to push his mind into comprehending it.

"Welcome to the club, Thorp." Fleem muttered. " _I'm_ still having trouble wrapping my head around it, and it's been days."

He smirked at Dallin, who still glanced anxiously at and away from Fleem. "I can't imagine what's going through _your_ head." He called to him from Kolka's hands. "You seem pretty backwards to me. Do you even realize what you are?"

Dallin smoothed down his fur, still uncertain. How many nervous habits did that smallfoot have?

Fleem looked back up at Kolka's face. "Heh. Can you believe this kid? He seems to think I'm going to eat him. Maybe I will, as soon as I'm the bigger one again."

Kolka would normally have snapped at him for such a remark. But she didn't understand, so she gave a smile that didn't fit his comment at all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Fleem:**

"Okay, do you understand  _ anything  _ of what I'm saying?" Fleem signed to a confused Kolka.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but simply shrugged and shook her head. Fleem sighed and folded his arms, still gripping his blanket. "C'mon, how am I supposed to complain if that's all you give me?"

Kolka shrugged again.

Fleem shook his head and glanced idly around. He thought he'd caught a glimpse of Dr. Laker among the crowd after the rest of the village had come down, but he'd disappeared just as fast. That smallfoot probably  _ could  _ be in two places at once.

Kolka got his attention again, and pointed at his blanket with a questioning look. Fleem glared at her and pulled it tighter around himself. "No, don't touch that!"

She raised an eyebrow at his possessiveness. Fleem took a step back and almost fell off the rock he was standing on. He yelped, and Kolka steadied him with a hand on his back.

"Thanks." Fleem muttered. "But you still can't ask about the blanket!"

More growling got his attention. Migo along with Percy, Meechee and Gwangi had approached. They nodded at Fleem, but it was Kolka they had come to talk to. They were beckoning to her, towards something Fleem couldn't see. Kolka nodded and followed them away with a few last signs and growls at Fleem.

Fleem watched them warily, before realizing he was now alone. "Where are you going?" He called after the S.E.S. "Why are you leaving me here? Don't you know all the terrible things that can happen to a smallfoot?"

None of them heard him.

Fleem jumped off the rock, considering running after them, when he caught sight of Dallin nearby. The smallfoot-yeti had sat down on a rock of his own, and stared off into space.

Fleem cocked his head. Dallin seemed uncharacteristically glum. He was jumpy, to be sure, and nervous, particularly around Fleem. But he'd never seemed glum.

Fleem found himself heading in his direction.

"What are  _ you  _ doing?" Fleem folded his arms again once he stood in front of him. But Dallin still stared past, as if he hadn't noticed him.

"Are you dead?" Fleem said flatly. "Or just so lost in thought that you wouldn't notice a stampede of mammoths heading your way?"

Dallin didn't move. Fleem rolled his eyes and raised a hand to jab at his leg. "Down here, Shorty!"

Dallin blinked and finally looked down at Fleem. A sound that was still recognizable as a gasp came from him, and he jerked backwards so hard he fell off his rock.

Fleem rounded it to smirk down at Dallin's face. He growled as well as he could as a smallfoot. "Fear me, smallfoot!" 

Dallin scrambled back, staring at Fleem with that same anxious look he always had. Fleem laughed. "Yeah that's right!"

Dallin growled a moan, rubbed his face with a hand, and pulled himself back up to sit on the rock.

Fleem shook his head. "Augh, what is your  _ problem?"  _

He marched closer and plopped down in the snow, leaning against the other side of the rock. "You're a  _ yeti.  _ You don't get cold. You can jump far, and run fast. Your feet aren't the size of a yak's. What in the world could possibly make you this miserable? What are you missing  _ so  _ much about being a smallfoot?"

As if to prove his point, the chill wind picked up, making him shiver a little. 

Fleem looked up to meet Dallin's eyes. "You've got it easy, smallfoot."

A familiar set of voices broke in before Dallin could try to respond. Fleem gasped. He didn't need to see them to know who they were."No, it's them! They've found me!"

He crawled through the snow behind the rock. But the bossy smallfeet from the Yak Shack didn't yell for 'Dallin'. They hadn't seen him.

Fleem looked at Dallin again. "Don't look at me! Keep them away from here, before they drag me away to do more chores!" He waved his hand, gesturing frantically for Dallin to turn around. Luckily, he understood.

Only once the voices had stopped did Fleem dare to move again. But the moment he started to crawl around the rock, he was shoved back by a hand bigger than his head. He swallowed his exclamation. One of the bossy smallfeet was walking up to Dallin!

Fleem bit his lip as he heard him call a "hello". Dallin growled back. "Have you seen a young man around here, with dark brown hair? He's gone missing, and we're trying to find him."

Fleem unconsciously ran his hand through his own hair. Was it possible he could disguise it with snow?

He imagined having the stuff caked over his head, and it gave him chills. No way.

Dallin growled again in confusion. Fleem forced himself not to groan. This was going to take a while. He tuned out the conversation.

A minute later, the world seemed to darken a bit. Fleem frowned and looked up at the clouds. These were darker than any cloud he had ever seen, even on top of the mountain.

If he was honest, they seemed rather ominous. He shuddered. As soon as possible, it would be nice to go inside.

"Dallin!" Fleem snapped back to the present situation. Someone else was coming, and Fleem's heart sank as he realized who it was.

_ Oh no. Not now. _

"Hey, Dallin!" Fleem heard Dr. Laker's running footsteps in the snow. "Could you spare a minute?"

"Huh? Me?" The bossy smallfoot sounded confused.

"No. Dallin. Right there." Dr. Laker blabbed.

Fleem closed his eyes. Of all the times and places Dr. Laker had to show up….did he have any notion of secrecy at all?

"That's a yeti." The bossy smallfoot said slowly.

"That's right. I'm trying to fix that." Fleem heard one of the smallfoot's devices make a weird noise. "Excuse me, please. Where is Fleem, Dallin?"

Fleem shrank back against the rock.

"Dr. Laker?" Said the bossy smallfoot. "Dallin Ridge isn't here. He didn't show up for work a few days ago, and we haven't seen him since."

There was silence for a very  _ very  _ long moment.

"Of course, of course. But I've sort of taken to calling this yeti Dallin. He looks like Dallin Ridge, wouldn't you say? Look at him! The resemblance is uncanny!"

Another pause. "I suppose." The bossy smallfoot finally said. "I didn't know you knew Dallin."

"Yep. Quite a decent guy. Will you excuse me? I need to talk with Dallin Two for a bit. It's very important."

"Oh. Right. Sure. But let me know if you see Dallin One anywhere, would you?"

Dr. Laker hummed and Fleem heard him fiddling with his device again.

He peeked around the rock and sagged in relief as he saw the bossy smallfoot jogging away to disappear into the Yak Shack.

Immediately, Dr. Laker's head snapped around. "Fleem! What are you doing back there?"

Fleem reluctantly crawled out of his hiding place and stood up. "Nothing."

This time, Dallin was smirking at him.

Obviously he'd had his own troubles with those smallfeet. 

Fleem rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it out."

He brushed off his coat. "I thought you were about to give us away."

Dr. Laker grimaced and oddly, his furless face reddened. "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

Fleem snorted.

Dallin growled and pointed at Dr. Laker's two devices in his hands. Fleem backed up a step. "What are you doing with those?"

Dr. Laker tapped something on it. "I remembered too late that it hasn't yet scanned Dallin. It needs both of you in the system before we can test it."

Fleem shook his head. "Just keep it away from me."

Dr. Laker looked at him with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Or we could take a big risk and…."

"No!" Fleem cut him off. "Don't try anything!"

Dr. Laker touched something else on the device, and a loud beeping noise emitted from it.

Fleem yelped, turned and ran full sprint in the direction the S.E.S had gone. "Keep it away! Help! Meechee!"

He ran between groups of yetis and smallfeet, and into the village, shouting at the top of his tiny lungs, "Crazy smallfoot! Someone help!"

He was out of breath when he stopped and realized where he was. Or wasn't. Great. Now he was lost again.

* * *

**Dallin:**

Dallin stared after Fleem. He didn't recall ever being able to run that fast when he was in that body.

Dr. Laker held up the device, and Dallin heard it power up again, presumably to scan him as it had scanned Fleem.

Dr. Laker nodded in satisfaction and gave him a thumbs up. Dallin returned it and stood up.

"Thanks, Doctor. You keep up the good work. But I'd better go find Fleem now."

Leaving Dr. Laker behind, he jogged off in the direction Fleem had gone.

"Meechee?" He called, catching sight of the S.E.S and Thorp up ahead. They turned to him as he approached. "Did any of you see Fleem run this way?"

They shook their heads, minus Percy on Migo's shoulder. "Did you lose him?" Kolka asked. 

Dallin smiled sheepishly. "In my defense, I think Dr. Laker threatened to test the device on him."

Percy tapped Migo's shoulder, and asked through signs what was going on. Migo spoke softly while he signed back.

"The device is ready to test?" Meechee looked hopeful.

"I'm not sure. Dr. Laker scanned me with it, but I don't know what that means for us. It would be a lot easier if I could ask him myself."

Meechee nodded sympathetically.

"Okay, guys." Migo said. "We're gonna go find Fleem. Percy says he knows a couple of places we can look. We'll be back in a sec!"

Migo jogged off into the city with Percy on his shoulder.

A rumble came from the sky. Dallin frowned as he glanced at the clouds. "Whoa. Looks like this'll be quite a storm."

"Mmhmm." hummed Gwangi. "We should probably go soon. It'll be harder to climb back up the mountain if it starts snowing."

Dallin glanced around at the other yetis and humans. Many were looking up worried. "I hope the city will be alright."

"You said snowstorms are fairly common down here. But just in case, we'll make sure everyone gets inside before we leave." Meechee reassured him.

Kolka and Gwangi nodded in agreement.

Glancing around, her eyes brightened as she caught sight of someone. "Daddy!" She ran to meet the Stonekeeper as he came in sight. He smiled and the two started talking quietly.

"Found him!" Percy and Migo emerged from the bright city, with Fleem on his other shoulder. Fleem refused to meet anyone's eyes, as if he were embarrassed. "He didn't go that far. But he did get a little lost..."

He broke off as he noticed the clouds. Dallin thought he saw them darken right before his eyes.

"That looks bad." Migo muttered. 

" _ Really  _ bad." Thorp agreed. "You think the smallfeet will get snowed in again?"

"Probably." Dallin said absently as he looked back at Meechee and the Stonekeeper, still whispering together. What were they saying?

Meechee and her father both looked a little worried. They looked up, then nodded to each other in agreement, and the Stonekeeper stepped forward. "Everyone, listen here!"

The murmur of background chatter stopped, and silence filled the void.

"We're going to go home early, to wait out this storm. We must hurry, before it starts to snow. But first, everyone make sure the smallfeet are safe in their homes. Quickly now!" The Stonekeeper gestured towards the city, spurring all yetis into action.

* * *

Luckily, it hadn't been hard to convince everyone to go inside.

A few had been reluctant, but they saw the clouds, and knew it was in their best interest.

Migo had dropped Percy and Fleem off at Percy's apartment, where Brenda had been waiting. 

Percy had worriedly inquired after the yetis, knowing exactly what kind of trip it was to get to the mountain. "We'll be fine." Migo had said with a smile. "It's not snowing yet, and we'll move fast."

Fleem had shaken his head at them as if he thought they were crazy to try.

Maybe they were.

Now that they were actually climbing the mountain, Dallin was a little worried himself. It was snowing now, and it seemed to be getting worse by the second.

Dallin closed his eyes against the wind as Gwangi adjusted his grip on him and made another jump, grunting as he grabbed more rock.

"It's getting hard to see!" Migo had to shout to be heard. 

Other yetis from the village yelled to each other from above and below, but Dallin couldn't see them through the torrent of snow.

Meechee cried out from somewhere above. "Meechee!" Gwangi called, along with Kolka, Migo and Thorp. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I just slipped!" Dallin sighed in relief at the sound of her voice.

"The wind is getting stronger!" yelled Thorp.

Gwangi yelped as his own grip wavered. "Dallin, hold on to me! I need to use both hands!" He let go suddenly, fully exposing Dallin to the wind. Dallin gasped and quickly struggled to blindly turn himself around so he could cling to Gwangi's back. "Careful!"

It felt like they were in the middle of a tornado. Dallin couldn't open his eyes without them watering. His borrowed fur kept out the cold, but he could feel wet snow seeping into it. If Gwangi weren't there, he'd probably blow away.

"This isn't a normal snowstorm!" He shouted. "This is way worse!"

"You think the smallfoot village is alright?" Kolka answered.

Gwangi flattened himself to the mountain, with Dallin clinging to him like a lifeline. "At least everyone is inside! Hopefully they'll be able to stay warm until this passes!"

"I don't know!" said Migo. "I think Percy told me he was having heat issues with his house! He may not have been prepared for this!"

"So, you want to hurry and go check on the village!?" Meechee sounded closer than before.

A clamor of shouts could be heard from all sides from the yetis. "What? The smallfeet need help? Are you sure?"

"They're inside! They're okay, aren't they?"

"What if their houses get buried?"

"Fleem's in there too!" Kolka reminded them. "Maybe we should at least make sure they'll be okay until this blizzard passes!"

"You want to climb back down in  _ this?"  _ Another voice chimed in. "Are you crazy?"

Dallin felt Gwangi stiffen. "We're  _ not  _ crazy!"

He reached back to grab Dallin from his back and get him back under his arm. "Let's go! Now!"

He let go of the mountain with alarming suddenness, dropping backwards into the torrent, holding Dallin tightly.

Dallin screamed as he fell off the mountain for the second time that day.

Many more screams joined the chorus, and Dallin recognized the S.E.S's among them. As the wind howled around them, he half expected to fly away and never touch ground again.

But he did, with a grunt and a gasp. Gwangi pulled him out of the way as somewhere through the storm, it started raining yetis.

"Let's hurry!" called Meechee. "Follow my voice! Come on!"

Dallin squinted his teary eyes open and saw Gwangi's faint silhouette walking away. He hurried to follow, preparing himself to see the worst.


	13. Chapter 13

**Fleem:**

After a little while, to Fleem's great discomfort, the wind outside was getting really loud, and the air was getting really cold. Once again, he and Percy were both buried in blankets. But this time, Percy had something to help distract them from the storm.

"Movie. What a creative name." Fleem said sarcastically as he watched the pictures on the box move. Percy's blankets slightly rose as he shrugged. "Yeah."

"What are they doing?"

"Watch, and find out."

"Why didn't anyone notice that guy leave? He could be up to something!"

Percy shushed him.

Fleem sat up straight. "Whoa! Why haven't we seen any of  _ those?"  _

Percy turned to face him. "Dragons aren't real, Fleem. It's just a movie."

Fleem raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "The Stonekeeper said the same thing about smallfeet." He pointed out. "Except for the movie part."

Percy huffed. "Just watch. Can't you enjoy something without questioning  _ every aspect  _ of it?"

"Nope. You forget that I'm part of a group whose sole purpose is to question things. Like that! Seriously? That lie was worse than Migo's! Is no one at all suspicious?"

Percy's sigh was muffled.

Fleem chuckled, but let himself go silent for a bit. This 'movie' actually was pretty cool. 

But despite the distraction, he continually found himself glancing at the big window. He kept imagining he could again hear the sound of shattered glass on the wind, and that sound alone made him cold.

So he got a nasty jolt when Percy's 'phone' rang suddenly. He shuddered and squeezed his two fistfulls of blankets. But he recovered quickly with a surge of hope. "Is it Dr. Laker? Is the device ready now?" He asked eagerly.

"It's Brenda." Percy said, sounding confused. "Brenda? What's up?"

Fleem strained to hear, but between the wind and layers of blankets on top of both of them, he couldn't make anything out from the phone.

"You need what?" Percy raised his voice a little, along with the wind.

Fleem glanced anxiously at the window again. If the storm kept growing like that, would he and Percy be in any danger?

"Brenda?" Percy called out. "Brenda? I can't hear you! Just hold on, we're coming!"

Fleem whipped back around to face him. "What? In  _ that?"  _

Percy stood up, breath trembling a little as he was exposed to the cold, and snatched up the TV 'remote' and his red coat from the floor. "I couldn't hear her well, but Brenda says she needs some help, and she hasn't been able to call anyone else. It was pure luck that she was able to reach us at all." He pressed a button and the pictures disappeared from the TV.

"You're crazy!" Fleem tried to sink lower into his blanket pile. 

"Fleem, Brenda could be in real trouble! She's out in that storm!" Percy pulled on his boots. "She's not far. She managed to tell me where she is."

He stood back up and faced Fleem. "But I can't go alone."

Fleem couldn't bring himself to say anything. Going out in the storm was the last thing he wanted. But the refusal to go shriveled up on his tongue. What if Percy went out and didn't come back?

Biting back a resigned sigh, Fleem stood and stepped out of his protective layers. He was already wearing his coat and boots, not daring to part with them for a minute. "Fine. Let's hurry and get it over with." Percy blinked as if surprised that Fleem wasn't digging in his heels, then nodded and helped him pull his hood up and tighten it.

Fleem was glad for the bit of cover it gave part of his face, which undoubtedly betrayed his fear. Yetis weren't supposed to freeze to death, and he certainly didn't want to become the first.

The two made their way outside, holding up their arms to shield their eyes from the snow blowing everywhere. The moment they were out the door, chaos slammed into them from every side and surrounded them.

Fleem marveled again at the things smallfeet had to live with their entire lives. Percy grabbed his arm as he faded into a silhouette in the torrent. "This way! Let's get to the snowmobile!"

Fleem stayed as close as possible to Percy. It felt like the ever intensifying wind would blow him away at any second, if it didn't freeze him first.

He began to shiver as the cold sank through his coat and shirt to his bones.

Percy towed him along with certainty even though he was no doubt as blind as Fleem. "Almost there!" He shouted over the storm.

Fleem squinted, desperate to see  _ something.  _ He couldn't even see Percy's silhouette anymore.

Suddenly, he was roughly tugged forward, and whacked his knee on something hard. But he barely felt it through the numbness that was quickly settling into his whole body.

"Sorry!" Percy called out. "Get on, quick!"

The moment Percy's hand disappeared, both of Fleem's shot out in a panic. He ran them over the snowmobile, and grabbed the first hold he could find before pulling himself up and onto the back. The moment he was seated, the snowmobile's roar broke through the howling wind.

Fleem grabbed Percy as they shot off into the storm.

The wind howled furiously as they rode through the streets. Fleem squeezed his eyes shut as they began to water. He'd experienced plenty of snow storms on top of the mountain, but none like this one. He wasn't sure if it was because he was a smallfoot, or because this storm was something more monstrous. 

Snow built up on the street ahead, forming hills. The snowmobile tilted up and down as Percy steered it over them. Fleem held his breath and lowered himself as low to the seat as he could.

It felt like hours before the ride smoothed out, and Percy slowed down. "I see her!"

Fleem peeked ahead and caught sight of two lights through the snow. Brenda's snowmobile.

Fleem and Percy coasted to a stop, and dismounted. "Brenda! Are you okay?" Percy headed towards the lights. They illuminated Brenda crouching next to a smallfoot on the ground.

" _ I'm  _ fine! It's Dr. Laker who needs help!" 

Fleem looked down in shock. Dr. Laker was still. His eyes were closed, and blood trickled from a cut on his temple, painting a red streak down his face and into the snow. When Fleem crouched and leaned closer, he could hear slight groans. "What happened to him?" He demanded without looking away.

"I don't know! I found him like this!" Brenda looked up at Percy. "He needs to go to the hospital, and my snowmobile broke down!"

Percy glanced back at his own behind them. "We could use mine, but it only holds two people, and the walk back to our apartment building is too far in this weather!"

Brenda nodded and glanced back at Dr. Laker with a worried expression. "You take him then! Fleem and I will find somewhere warm to wait until it's safer!"

Fleem perked up. "We will?"

Percy shot an uncertain glance at Fleem. 

"He'll be fine!" said Brenda. "Both of you, help me get Dr. Laker settled! We really need to hurry!"

She grunted as she lifted his shoulders, prompting another groan. Percy grabbed his legs, and Fleem awkwardly offered support on Brenda's end.

They carried Dr. Laker to the snowmobile and slowly maneuvered him into a sitting position on the back. He moaned and slumped forward, so Brenda and Fleem had to hold him up long enough for Percy to get on.

"Wait, take my helmet! I can see you don't have yours!" Brenda hurried to grab it from the seat of her own snowmobile.

Percy shoved it on and looked at her for a moment. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Brenda reached out to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll be fine! I'm sure someone will take us in until this blows over!"

Percy reluctantly nodded. "Stay safe! I'll see you as soon as I can!"

Dr. Laker moaned again, and tried to sit up. "Wait…" his drowsy words were barely audible over the storm. "Wait….important….

"No time!" Percy's snowmobile roared back to life. "We're going to the hospital! Everything's gonna be fine!"

Fleem felt a twinge of anxiety as he watched their shapes fade away. Part of him still saw Percy as the key to getting back to his body. Soon, he couldn't hear the snowmobile anymore either.

Brenda grabbed his arm, snapping him out of it. "Fleem, let's go!" With great difficulty and a few glances, Fleem followed her in the opposite direction Percy had gone. "Do you even know where we're going?"

Brenda answered by moving a little faster.

Fleem stumbled after her, barely able to stay on his feet. He was being battered on all sides, and it was still getting worse and worse. A windy blow to his face threw his hood off, leaving his head exposed. Snow began to settle in his hair.

He grabbed for it, struggling to get it back in place. "I'm not convinced you know where we are!"

Brenda stopped suddenly, looking around. Fleem gripped his hood, holding it over his head. "We're lost! We're gonna die!"

Brenda squeezed his arm. "We're not gonna die! Look, there's light over there! I think it's the Yak Shack!"

She began to walk again, and sure enough, Fleem could see multicolored lights up ahead.

_ The Yak Shack.  _ Were the bossy smallfeet there, even now?

Fleem closed his mouth on any protests. He'd rather do chores than stay out here any longer. Maybe he could even persuade Brenda to do them instead….

As they got closer, the area became more clear. Fleem and Brenda headed for the door to the Yak Shack. "Hurry and get it open before we freeze to death!" Fleem's hands stung from the cold.

Brenda pulled, and the door clicked, refusing to budge. "I can't! It's locked!"

Fleem lunged for it, pulling with all he had. 

"Fleem, stop! We'll have to find somewhere else!"

Fleem glared at her. "In this? I can barely even see  _ you!  _ We're as good as dead already!"

Brenda grabbed his shoulders tightly. "Don't! We're not giving up! We're  _ going to get to safety!  _ But we have to keep moving!"

A roar made them both jump. Fleem grabbed Brenda. "That wasn't the wind!" 

The two turned around just as a large dark shape appeared, heading in their direction. "Ahhh!" Fleem screamed and pressed his back against the door. "Monster!"

Brenda stood frozen, watching it approach.

Fleem pulled again on the door handle. "Open open open!"

Brenda gasped suddenly. "Migo!" She ran towards the figure, holding up an arm. "Over here!"

Fleem scrambled to follow her. "Wait!"

The figure looked in their direction. Fleem heard a growl, and it broke into a run.

Fleem caught up with Brenda, and the two did their best to brace themselves against the wind. 

"Over here!" Brenda shouted again. The figure loomed over them, and the next moment, both smallfeet were scooped up and hugged against a furry chest. A glance showed Fleem a bunch of other figures gathering around, all yetis.

"Thank goodness you came back!" Brenda said, relieved. "You were just in time!"

Fleem shivered and curled into a ball, breathing on his fingers as he'd seen Percy do. "I'm still cold though!"

Migo growled down at them, sounding frantic. Brenda pointed back in the direction they'd come. "Percy's in there! He's helping Dr. Laker!"

Migo stiffened and fearfully scanned the smallfoot village as if he could see Percy from here.

"Are you thinking of trying to play hero again? You won't find him!" said Fleem. "You won't find anything in there but snow!"

Migo growled something to the other yetis, and turned to hand Brenda and Fleem off to someone else. Fleem squinted, and recognized Meechee. She growled something back to Migo, and shook her head.

Others broke in, and what sounded like an argument broke out.

Fleem blinked his narrowed eyes. It was starting to get harder to focus...the world tilted a little, and drowsiness tugged at the edge of his mind.

He leaned further into Meechee, trying to keep it from overtaking him.

Brenda looked his way. "Fleem?" She reached out to gently shake him. "Fleem, are you okay?"

When Fleem didn't answer, she sat bolt upright as well as she could. "GUYS!" The yetis all went silent and turned to face her. "There's no time to argue! Fleem needs to get somewhere warm,  _ right now!" _

Migo and the other yetis looked at Fleem in surprise, and a few gasped.

Fleem slowly lifted a hand to rub at his eyes.. "Why you….lookin at me….like that?" He went limp as another wave of tiredness washed over him.

Migo said something to Meechee, and she finally sighed in defeat with a glance at Fleem in her hold. Migo gave her a reassuring nod, and turned to sprint into the village, followed by a bunch of other yetis. Fleem noticed Thorp, and Dallin among them, and couldn't stifle a pang of worry for his body. What was the smallfoot-yeti hoping to do?

Meechee, along with Gwangi and Kolka turned away from the village, but Fleem thought he'd caught a glimpse of a lone yeti, running apart from the crowd. He couldn't make out her face, but he still recognized her.

"Mom?" He mumbled sleepily. But she was gone.

The cold was obviously making him see things now. His smallfoot body was such a pain!

"Why are we moving away from the village?" He managed to slur to Brenda. His mind was full of clouds.

"We're going somewhere safe. I think."

* * *

**Dallin:**

Dallin hardly recognized the city. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was snow snow snow.

"This way!" Migo called from somewhere in front. Dallin followed his voice, keeping an eye out for any people on the streets or sidewalks.

If Percy, Brenda and Fleem had been outside, it was possible others were too.

Migo didn't know Dallin had joined the group following him into the city. He'd intended for him and the S.E.S to take Fleem and Brenda to a nearby cave, and keep them safe until he found Percy. 

But Dallin didn't think he could wait on the sidelines. He wasn't cold, not like when he was a human. He wasn't helpless. He would be a lot less nervous if he could see for himself what was going on.

He slapped snow out of his fur as he ran, only for more to take its place. What had made this snowstorm decide to happen now? Fleem had pushed through the more common storm, but now he'd started to look a little sick.

Dallin felt bad for Fleem, of course, but more so, he could help but wonder what would happen if he didn't pull through. With no body to return to, would Dallin be stuck forever as a yeti? He felt incredibly guilty for having such selfish thoughts, but he couldn't stop them.

Dallin stumbled as he stubbed his toe on something he couldn't see. Where had everyone else gone? He couldn't hear their panting or running footsteps anymore. Something blowing in the wind hit him on the shoulder, and Dallin lurched forward, faceplanting a pile of snow.

"Migo!" He tried to call out, but his voice was carried away by the chaos, and cold air filled his mouth and throat.

Dallin stayed down, frozen. He couldn't tell where he was, or which way Migo and the other yetis had gone. He strained to hear anything but wind, see anything but freezing clouds of white specks.

_ There!  _ A faint sound reached his ears. Dallin crawled free from the snow and jumped up, running towards it. As he got closer, he realized it couldn't have come from a yeti. It sounded like….

He saw a light as a snowmobile rounded a corner, heading right for Dallin. Dallin gasped in surprise and took an instinctive step back. The rider noticeably jumped as he saw him, and the snowmobile came to a lurching halt at Dallin's feet. Dallin recognized his red coat immediately. "Percy!"

The man looked up at him in surprise. Then Dallin noticed the other figure slumped against Percy's back. "Wait...is that Dr. Laker?!"

Dallin fell to a knee to get a better look at his face. "What happened? He's bleeding!"

Percy held up his hands, signaling for him to calm down.

Dallin met his eyes through the helmet. "If you're trying to get to the hospital, you realize you're nowhere near it, right?"

Percy looked around in confusion. Dr. Laker stirred, and looked up at Dallin with unfocused eyes.

_ Whump. _

Dallin's head shot around as a yeti landed in the snow next to him. Percy let out a high pitched yelp, but Dr. Laker smiled broadly.

Fleem's mom looked solemnly down at the two humans. "Oh, hi...Mom!" Dallin stuttered, shouting over the wind. "Um...I didn't know you were here!"

She glanced at him with that same weary expression she always seemed to have. "I'll explain everything later! Right now, these two need help!"

She leaned down and scooped up Dr. Laker from the snowmobile, cradling him in her arms. "Grab him!" She gestured to Percy with her head.

"Wait, Dr. Laker needs to go to a hospital! Look, he's got an injury!" He cringed at how much he was breaking Fleem's character. Did she even know what a hospital was? Or Dr. Laker's name?

If she noticed, she didn't react. "There's no time to try to find it fast enough! It's impossible to see far in this storm, and smallfeet can't last long in the cold! We've got to get these two to the cave with your S.E.S friends! I'll see to this cut there!"

Dallin blinked. He realized he hadn't really thought about what Fleem's mom did. Was she a healer?

"Grab him!" She repeated, and Dallin shook his head to clear it. He picked up Percy, doing his best to shield him from the snow.

"I know the way out! Follow me!" Fleem's mom jumped and clambered on top of a building.

Dallin did his best to follow, far less gracefully.

"What about the others? They're still looking for Percy!"

"We'll have to come back for them!"

Dallin fell silent and leaped from roof to roof after her, holding Percy with both hands. 

Each time he was airborne, the wind pushed on him as if trying to carry him away.

His temporary yeti mother glanced back periodically to make sure he was still coming.

Once they landed on the ground outside the city, Dallin looked back once before rushing towards the snowy path after her.

Poor Migo. He didn't yet know Percy had been found, and would soon be safe.


	14. Chapter 14

**Fleem:**

Fleem's body felt like a sack of rock fruit. And his mind felt like a fluffy cloud.

As Meechee bounded across the snowy ground, she'd had to pin him to her chest to keep him from flopping around. And what was more, his coat seemed to have gotten a little wet.

He'd never imagined such coldness was possible. It was an experience he could easily have gone his entire life without.

The storm still seemed to be getting worse, making it nearly impossible to see, and Meechee's growls and grunts were faint, but he felt her movements just fine. Each time her feet touched the ground, Fleem felt a jarring in his skull.

In his drowsy state, it became almost a rhythm.  _ Four steps. Jump. Land. Five steps. Jump. Land. Three steps…. _

Then she stopped. Fleem looked up and squinted, trying to see the reason why. Through the swirling snow, something dark was visible. On further inspection, he made out rocks and an open tunnel of darkness.

"Is that a cave?" He mumbled to himself. He didn't have the strength to yell, but he imagined it wouldn't have made a difference. No one could hear him in this. He closed his eyes. He was so tired.

Meechee and the other yetis pressed forward towards the cave, fighting the storm. Was a cave really safer than Percy's home? Why hadn't Meechee taken them back there instead?

Suddenly, the wind stopped blowing on him, and the noise died down a little bit. "Fleem?" Brenda's voice broke the calm as the yetis stumbled further into the cave. Fleem gave only an "mmf" in response.

Kolka and Gwangi collapsed to the floor, leaning against the wall across from Meechee with deep sounding sighs of relief. As Meechee sat down, Brenda waved to get her attention and began signing something, glancing at Fleem.

Fleem narrowed his eyes suspiciously. What was she trying to do?

A second later, Meechee turned him onto his back on her arm. Fleem looked up at her face, annoyed. "What's the big idea?"

Brenda slowly made her way across Meechee's arm to him. "Just hold still."

Then she began to unzip Fleem's coat!

Fleem regained a little bit of alertness in dismay. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Do you want me to freeze to death? This cave is still cold!"

Brenda pushed his hand away from the zipper. "Your coat's all wet! It won't keep you warm like this."

She stared intently into his face. "Listen to me, Fleem. I know you're probably not used to this, being a yeti, but you're showing signs of hypothermia."

Fleem felt a twinge of anxiety. Whatever that was, it didn't sound good. Was he sick?

Flashbacks of Percy on top of the mountain hit him. The smallfoot had gotten worse and worse so fast….he'd looked a lot like Fleem felt now.

But he'd also been struggling for breath. Fleem could breathe just fine, so he couldn't be feeling exactly what Percy had, right?

Brenda wrestled the zipper away from him and finished the job, removing some protection from Fleem's front. Instinctively, he reached to pull both sides back over his chest, but Brenda was already trying to pull off a sleeve.

"I still don't understand why you have to take off my coat." He complained, trying to pull back. "Just dry it off instead."

Meechee too had finally noticed what Brenda was doing, and started growling in protest and confusion.

Brenda sighed in frustration. "With what? We're in a cave. You have to take all your wet clothes off. That, unfortunately, includes your coat." She looked at his feet. "And your boots too. Your shirt should be fine though, so we'll just take off your coat and shoes."

Brenda looked up at Meechee and tried to sign the same thing to her, but Meechee didn't look reassured.

Brenda glanced at Fleem. "Alright, even if you don't understand, can you just trust me? We really don't have time to argue. Fleem may be out of the storm, but he's not out of danger yet."

She pulled on Fleem's sleeve again. "I know this seems like the wrong thing to do, but wet clothes will only make it worse."

Meechee still looked hesitant, but finally nodded and called to the other yetis across from her. Both looked just as confused as Meechee.

But Kolka nodded back and stood to cross over to them. Fleem groaned and shakily sat up to pull his arm out of the sleeve. "Why is this happening to me?" He brought his now bare arm to his chest, trying to breathe on it.

Kolka grabbed his hood with two fingers and moved his coat away from his back. She grunted as the other sleeve stuck to his other arm, and gently pulled it in Brenda's direction, apparently trying to slide it off that way. Fleem huffed. "I knew you all hated me. You're ganging up on me."

Brenda ignored him and smiled at Kolka. "Well, that'll turn the sleeve inside out, but it'll work. Pull your arm out Fleem." Fleem sighed but obeyed. The wet material stuck to his arm, but finally rolled off, leaving icy air in its place. Kolka pulled the coat off of him, leaving him exposed and shivering in a t-shirt. He brought his knees to his chest and leaned into Meechee, seeking warmth.

"We still have to take off your boots." Brenda reminded him. Kolka quickly caught on, and grabbed his leg. Fleem yelped as he was slightly pulled forward onto his back, but didn't resist as she effortlessly pulled off one boot, then the other.

"Ugh, this is torture!" Fleem pushed himself back up. 

"Are your socks wet?" Brenda asked.

Fleem put his hands protectively over his feet. "Only a couple of spots. I'm keeping them."

Thankfully, Brenda didn't argue.

Kolka exchanged some growls with Meechee before gently lifting him from her arm. Fleem drowsily went limp again. "I'm tired."

"Don't go to sleep!" Brenda called up to him as Meechee hugged her to her chest. "Just in case. Kolka, is it? Don't let him go to sleep!"

Kolka growled a response and turned away. "What are you doing?" Fleem slurred.

Gwangi stood up and met Kolka halfway across the cave, his deeper growls echoing. He took Fleem from Kolka's hands and gently prodded his face with a giant finger. Fleem grunted and shook him off. "Yeah, yeah, I'm awake."

Gwangi growled softly and wrapped his hands around Fleem's body, tightly enough to keep out the cold air but gently enough to let him move. Fleem sighed in relief. He realized then that he'd forgotten what it was like to have fur. When had that happened?

As Gwangi plopped back down by the wall, Fleem shifted into a more comfortable position and watched Brenda try to explain Fleem's predicament to Meechee. Both of them were more patient than him. They could go on like this for hours, while he was ready to give up after one attempt. He shook his head in bewilderment. How did they keep from pulling out their own hair?

Gradually, Fleem stopped shivering and began to feel more like himself. He turned his head to look at the storm still raging outside. It looked every bit as chaotic as his life had been from the moment he woke up in this body.

So much had happened that in only a few days it was getting harder and harder to think of himself as a yeti. He lightly rubbed his bare arms and curled up tighter in Gwangi's hands. That was a shocking realization.

"I hope Migo and Percy are alright." said Brenda, watching the entrance.

Fleem met her eyes from across the cave. "Percy's probably inside your 'hospital'. If Migo knows what that is, maybe he'll look there."

"Assuming he made it at all." Brenda's brow creased in worry. "It's impossible to see anything out there, even with headlights on."

Fleem hummed in agreement. But before he could respond, he was distracted by Kolka. She'd laid out his wet coat on a rock and was now walking towards the cave entrance.

"Kolka? What are you doing?" Fleem said at the same moment Meechee and Gwangi spoke up.

Kolka looked back and growled something to the other yetis, her expression determined. Fleem groaned. "Oh no, not you too."

What could possibly go wrong if Kolka went out looking for Migo who was looking for Percy?

The three yetis argued, but it was obvious there would be no deterring her. She turned to leave before anyone could get up to stop her. "Be careful!" Brenda called after her.

"If you find my body, drag him back here too!" added Fleem. "I want to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't give me any crippling injuries to return to!"

Gwangi and Meechee both sighed in frustration and fear, and Fleem felt Gwangi's grip tighten ever so slightly.

After Kolka was gone from earshot, there was silence in the cave.

Minutes passed, and Meechee got up to pace, holding on to Brenda as a comfort. Fleem stared after her as she walked deeper into the cave, out of sight. A moment later she reappeared, then turned back around and disappeared again.

An hour passed. Fleem fidgeted restlessly. All this waiting was starting to get to him. Gwangi let out a deep moan and finally stood up. Fleem turned to smirk up at him. "Is my boredom contagious?" The look on Gwangi's face told him to shut up. He shrugged. "What?"

A faint sound came from outside, over the storm.

Fleem and Gwangi froze. "What was that?" Fleem asked, his tiny smallfoot heart beginning to quicken. 

There it was again! A yeti's roar!

Fleem and Gwangi exchanged a look. As the roar came again, slightly closer, Gwangi quickly sat Fleem down on a rock and took off towards the cave entrance.

"Hey!" Fleem shouted after him. "Why are you leaving me here? I'm in socks!" The cold was sudden and terrible.

Fleem turned his head as Meechee paced back into sight. She looked at Fleem in surprise, as did Brenda, and rushed to grab and cover him with her arm, shouting after Gwangi as he disappeared into the storm.

"Oh great!" Fleem lamented. "We're getting picked off one by one!"

More roars came from outside, making Meechee perk up. "Don't do it!" Fleem twisted his neck to glare up at her. "Don't go out there!"

Brenda nudged him. "Wait, look!"

The yetis had found the cave, and one by one they filed in, with Gwangi in the lead. He pushed Dallin in front of him, and Kolka followed with a smallfoot in her arms.

"Percy!" Brenda cried out. But it was the last yeti who got Fleem's attention. He stared in silence as his mother made her way in, holding an unconscious Dr. Laker.

"Hey, Brenda." Percy sounded a little sheepish. "I think I got a little turned around in the storm."

Brenda gave a dry laugh. "No, really?"

Fleem tuned them out, unable to take his eyes off his mom as she knelt to lay Dr. Laker down on a nearby rock. Why was she here? She always beat him home when the village came down. What had made her come back this time?

A deep pang of frustration stirred in his stomach as Dallin approached her, and began talking to her in hushed growls. She thought the smallfoot-yeti was him.  _ But I'm over here! Can't you see? _

He jumped when Brenda touched his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

His cheeks grew a little hot as he realized he'd mumbled it aloud. "Nothing."

Brenda looked at the two yetis, so close yet so far. "Are you close to her?"

Fleem watched his mom in silence for a moment, hesitating. She was wrapping something around Dr. Laker's head.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting. He barely interacted with her when he really was himself. Was he hoping she would look at him, into his eyes, and realize what he was? He sighed, unable to hide his frustration. "She's my mom."

"Oh." muttered Brenda. "I'm sorry. It must be hard to see her like this."

Fleem shrugged. "I don't really talk to her much anymore." He admitted. "She got pretty mad when she found out I was in the S.E.S. Then we both...said some things. And that was that."

When he finally looked at Brenda, he was surprised to see sympathy in her eyes. He gave another dismissive shrug. "What? It's not that big of a deal. We live in the same house. She runs off every morning and disappears, but she's always there when I get home at night."

He looked back at Dallin and his mom, and thankfully Brenda took the hint.

Dr. Laker stirred on the rock and groaned. "Where…." His head turned but it was too dark to see his expression. "Dallin!?"

Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. With a glance at Meechee, Kolka set Percy down so he could run over and check on him. He crossed the cave and crouched next to his head. "Dr. Laker! How do you feel?"

Dr. Laker ignored the question. "Percy! The devices! I dropped them out there!"

Fleem bit his tongue to keep from voicing his dismay. Why couldn't things just be simple for once?

Dr. Laker continued rambling and tried to sit up. "I tried to tell you before we drove off! I fell and hit my head, and both prototypes fell out of my hands and got lost in the snow! And…."

Percy held up a hand to stop him. "We'll worry about that later. You're in no shape to try and find anything."

Fleem's mom growled and gestured for him to lay back down. Dr. Laker looked up at her desperately. "We've been working on those devices for so long! We can't lose them now!"

He cupped his hands, trying to communicate it to her.

She tilted her head, and sighed softly before bending down and holding out a hand. Fleem squinted, and barely made out two shapes in the dim light.

Dr. Laker stuttered in surprise. "O-Oh my, you found them? How? How in the world did you know where to look?  _ I  _ couldn't find them the moment I dropped them!"

Meechee growled something to Fleem's mom and knelt down close by, setting Brenda and Fleem in her lap.

Fleem saw Brenda's smile from the corner of his eye. "Looks like your mom saved the day." 

He gave a single nod of acknowledgement, but something else stole his attention.

"Wait, you said  _ we.  _ ' _ We  _ can't lose the devices'." Fleem looked up just as his mom finally turned and met his eyes. She looked tired like she always did, but there was something else.

She  _ knew.  _ She knew  _ he  _ was Fleem and Dallin wasn't.

"How?" He whispered, pieces already coming together in his mind. Dr. Laker shifted positions to look at him. "I'm not sure how much she's told you. She didn't want me to tell anyone, but she helped me design these prototypes."

Fleem waited, trying to process this new information. His mom, an expert in smallfoot technology?

"I told her what happened to you two as soon as I found out, and together we've been trying to fix the dang things." Dr. Laker smiled admiringly at Fleem's mom. "She's amazing. I could never have come as far as I have without her."

Fleem's mom tiredly returned the smile.

Dr. Laker looked down at the two devices in his hands and his smile faltered. "We hoped to come up with a way to communicate better so working together would be easier. I guess this isn't it."

Fleem found his voice again. "How long has she been working with you?"

Dr. Laker finally laid back down on his 'partner's' insistence.

"Almost as long as our species have been friends. She comes down the mountain early every single morning, and since you and Dallin...swapped, she's hardly taken a break."

Fleem took in his mom's droopy eyelids and slight swaying. She  _ did  _ seem a tad more tired than usual. "Why hasn't she ever said anything about this?"

"I just assumed she doesn't like being the center of attention. But you know her better than I do. Once we fix these, you can ask her yourself."

Fleem shivered and pushed himself further into Meechee's fur. As he reflected on that argument so long ago, the irony of his mom taking an interest in smallfoot stuff didn't escape him.

* * *

**Dallin:**

Dallin blinked at Fleem's mom's revelation. "So you've known this whole time?"

She slowly nodded. "I can tell my smallfoot friend just told Fleem. I suppose you should know too."

Dallin ran a hand through his arm fur. That just made it more awkward. He'd been calling this yeti 'Mom' every night, thinking she was none the wiser.

She rubbed her tired eyes. "I admit, it's been a rough adjustment. I don't know who you really are, speaking with Fleem's voice." She offered a soft smile. "But you seem like a nice smallfoot."

Dallin awkwardly smiled back. "I try. If you really want to know, my real name is Dallin."

She seemed reluctant for a second, but then held out a wary hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you Dallin."

Dallin took it and tried to relax, but couldn't quite manage. He glanced nervously at the cave walls.

"I don't like caves." He mumbled as Fleem's mom raised an eyebrow. He'd had a less than pleasant 'encounter' with a cave as a kid in scout camp, involving one of the camp leaders.

He recalled with embarrassment his hesitation outside of the cave. Gwangi had had to push him in. 

He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject. "So, you're a healer?"

Fleem's mom glanced at Dr. Laker. "I was going to be. Before I met this smallfoot. Tell me his name?"

"Dr. Laker. Seth Laker."

She nodded. "I met him the day yetis and smallfeet first made contact. He showed me his projects, and I was fascinated, so I asked him to teach me what he knew. It's a lot of work, and at first it felt wrong to completely discard the Stones, but I've loved working with him more than I ever enjoyed learning to be a healer."

"I think it suits you." Meechee piped in with a smile.

"The Stones. I've heard of those." said Dallin. Fleem's mom looked at the ground. "Yes. Yetis followed the Stones for many generations. I never expected that would change." She chuckled. "But I am glad that I get to see so many things that have never been done. It's hard, but it's better." Meechee voiced wholehearted agreement.

It sounded like she had happily found her purpose in life. Dallin thought back to his days cleaning in the Yak Shack. It had only been a few days, but it felt like forever ago. What was he going to do now that he was almost certainly fired? 

He didn't know.

Fleem's mom shot a quick look at Fleem in Meechee's lap. He'd started to drift off to sleep, even as Percy chattered with Brenda.

Meechee saddened and looked towards the cave entrance again. "Migo is still out there. Thorp too. Do you think they're okay?"

Fleem's mom straightened, as if only remembering that there were others. Not just Migo and Thorp, but many from the yeti village. "I doubt they'll be able to find their way here. They're probably still in the smallfoot village."

She stood up. "Someone needs to find them and help them get to a closer shelter. I've passed through the area with snowstorms before, so I know it pretty well. I'll go, if someone is willing to come with me. Just one yeti." She added quickly as nearly everyone opened their mouths to volunteer. "Not you, Dallin. I'm leaving Fleem and Seth Laker with you."

Dallin shut his own mouth.

The S.E.S began to argue yet again. The storm had taken its toll on everyone. Fleem's mom sighed. "Gwangi. Will you come with me?"

He nodded determinedly. "Mmhmm."

"Good. Let's go. We'll come back after the storm has passed." The two began to cross the cave.

Something occurred to Dallin. "Wait! What do I call you now? I don't think I can keep calling you 'Mom'."

He saw then where Fleem got his smirk. "Tania."

Then she disappeared, Gwangi right behind her.

Meechee gave Dr. Laker a reassuring look as he nervously watched Tania leave. "Wow. Tania is usually really quiet. Always made me wonder if she and Fleem were actually related."

She gently brushed some hair out of Fleem's face with one finger. He stirred but didn't wake up. 

Dr. Laker stiffly sat up and examined one of the devices, looking confused. He held it up towards Dallin and began to speak in gibberish. Dallin squinted at it. "What about the device? Is there something different about it?"

Dr. Laker shrugged and held up the other device next to it, as if comparing them.

"Maybe Tania messed with them?" Dallin suggested. Dr. Laker turned them over and bit his lip before shrugging again.

Dallin yawned and scooted backwards to lean against a rocky wall. The events of the day were starting to catch up with him. He was even too tired to worry about being in a cave. He'd just rest his eyes for a bit.

Hopefully when he woke up, the storm would have passed.


	15. Chapter 15 Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not dead yet! But ooooh boy, I got hit HARD by dialogue block, and I also had to rewrite a part of it. My brain is thoroughly fried now. 🥴
> 
> Sooo, I'm just gonna put Dallin's and Fleem's parts up separately, since this took forever and I'm sick of keeping y'all waiting. Hope you still enjoy it, hehe 😬

**Dallin:**

Time began to stretch out.

Everyone left in the cave had gone silent. Meechee had curled up on a couple of rocks and gone to sleep along with Fleem and Brenda on her chest. Kolka paced anxiously. Dr. Laker stared at the ceiling while Percy sat next to him, occasionally looking over the makeshift bandage, a ripped sleeve of Dr. Laker's shirt.

Dallin found he couldn't stay asleep for very long. Unwelcome chills passed through his spine as he glanced around the cave, and not from the cold. The darkness didn't help at all, only giving his mind more room to play through his memories of the last cave he'd explored. They left a hollow pit in his belly that wouldn't leave, even as he tried to distract himself.

The sooner they could leave this creepy place, the better.

Slowly, darkness began to press in more and more as the night continued, and soon Dallin was surrounded by pitch black. He stiffened as he heard a shuffling on the rocky floor, but it was just Kolka. "I'm going to make a fire." she announced.

Dallin nodded, though she couldn't see him. "Good idea." It would give a little light, and also help dry off Fleem's still damp coat.

Orange and yellow light sprang up by the far wall, making him blink.  _ That was fast. _

Kolka dusted off her hands and sat down against the wall with a relieved sigh.

A moment later, she was asleep too, as were Dr. Laker and Percy.

Dallin was now completely alone with his thoughts.

And it was excruciating. He'd never imagined silence could be so loud. 

He pressed himself against the wall and tried not to think about where he was. But the intruding and overwhelming memories and thoughts refused to be dismissed, filling all empty spaces in his mind.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually, Dallin just couldn't take it anymore.

He found himself standing up and heading straight for the cave entrance. Maybe he could find Tania, or Migo, or someone. He felt guilty for not telling Meechee and Kolka, but they'd certainly try to stop him. Besides, they would probably guess where he was when they woke up. He paused at the mouth, watching the storm. It was still snowing, but it had lessened considerably. 

Good. The worst was over. Maybe Dallin would be actually able to see in front of himself this time.

He took a deep breath and moved to step outside. A familiar high pitched voice made him freeze and he spun to face Fleem's smaller form, illuminated by the fire light. Dallin couldn't understand what he was saying, but his eyes said,  _ where do you think you're going? _

Dallin shifted from foot to foot. "I was just…"

Fleem shook his head, looking exasperated and shivered as he rubbed his bare arms. Dallin smiled uncomfortably. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't stand there. Maybe you should go sit by the fire." He pointed behind Fleem at the dancing flames.

Fleem huffed and stayed right where he was, continuing to, Dallin assumed, scold him. Dallin gave a soft groan. "Listen, I'm going insane in here. I had a bad experience with a cave once, and the memory is just festering the longer I sit there."

Fleem squinted in the fire light, and opened his mouth to keep talking, but something in Dallin's face must have made him stop. He stood a little straighter, still shivering, and furrowed his brow.

Dallin stared back at him, uncertainty tugging at him from both sides. Was Fleem….worried? "You're gonna follow me if I go out, aren't you?" Dallin said warily. At the same time, his body screamed at him to go run home, to the city and hide.

Fleem took a step forward, watching him closely. Dallin took a step back, feeling his foot sink slightly into a mound of snow. "Don't you know what that would do to you, Fleem? Don't you care, even a little?"

Fleem shuddered as he continued to walk after Dallin. He looked up defiantly, straight into Dallin's face.

Dallin sighed in defeat and held up his hands. The message was clear. "Fine. You win. I'm coming back inside."

He was eighty percent sure Fleem wasn't bluffing. If he was right, he'd have to answer to all of the S.E.S if Fleem got lost in the snow. And Tania too.

That still didn't make it easy to go back inside though.

Absent-minded, Dallin gently picked up Fleem, and headed for the fire. Maybe there would be a chance to escape him later. 

Fleem pushed on Dallin's hands until he put him down, and plopped down on the nearest rock.

Dallin slowly sat down across from him, careful not to disturb Kolka, and stared down at the fire to keep from looking around the cave again. "Just a campfire. Part of every camping trip. I like camping." Fleem raised an eyebrow at his unintelligible yeti words and reached to smack the dirt and pebbles off his socks.

Dallin rubbed his hands together. "All we need now is a bag of yeti sized marshmallows, and it'll be just like a  _ regular  _ old camping trip." He swallowed hard. "Outside, under the stars."

Fleem folded his arms and watched him with an unreadable expression. Not quite unfriendly though, as he had been at first.

Dallin forced an uncomfortable smile. "So, does this mean you forgive me for stealing your body?" He meant his tone to be light, but it wavered over those last words.

He took in the dark hair and youthful face he had seen in the mirror just days ago. "You kinda stole mine too though, so…" He broke off. Seeing his own face from the outside so much had slowly made it seem like someone else's entirely.

Fleem blew out a cloudy breath and turned to let the fire warm his side. He prodded his blue coat splayed on the rock next to him with a finger and frowned in dissatisfaction. Bringing his knees up to his chest, he glanced enviously at Dallin's fur.

Dallin shrugged sheepishly. "I'd give it back if I could." Fleem just shook his head, laid his head on his knees, and closed his eyes.

Dallin stared at the yeti-turned-human. He was the only one available to talk to. "I hate caves." He blurted out without stopping to think. Fleem opened one eye.

Dallin cleared his throat. "I hope you don't mind if I just keep talking. Otherwise, I'm going to be completely stuck thinking about caves, and then I'll go insane if I don't run out screaming first."

"Really? You seemed fine at the headquarters." Dallin jumped. He'd forgotten Kolka was sitting right there. How long had she been awake? 

He looked at the cave floor. "I guess I was a little distracted." He mumbled. "Waking up as a yeti tends to completely take over your thoughts."

Kolka chuckled softly. "Fair enough. But that effect seems to have worn off now."

Dallin nodded and turned to face her while keeping Fleem in his line of sight. "It's not really the cave itself. I know it's just a cave. Nothing special about it. Just a big hole in a big rock."

He paused. "But so was the last one."

Kolka waited without interrupting for him to continue.

Dallin took a deep breath. "I was in scout camp at the time. I'd been the year before, and I thought it was alright. But this year, my group got a new leader who wanted to kick our activities up a notch. He had a few years experience with spelunking, and convinced the other leaders to take us."

Kolka tilted her head slightly. "Spe-lunking?" Fleem glanced between them both with confused exasperation, and in gibberish, demanded a translation. Dallin couldn't help but laugh at him a little, annoying him into a grumpy silence.

Movement caught his eye, and he turned to see Percy approaching the fire. He sat tiredly next to Fleem and yawned. Brenda wasn't far behind, and neither was Meechee, gently setting Dr. Laker next to her knee.

"Spelunking is like cave exploring." Dallin explained to Kolka. "With plenty of crawling through small tight spaces."

"Oh." said Kolka.

"Anyway, we decided to get right to it the first morning. At first, I was actually excited, since I'd never seen a cave. But it...didn't go as smoothly as I hoped."

He ran his fingers through his arm fur and looked down at the cave floor. "We got a little lost just before we found out that our new leader had never been through this cave before. None of our leaders had. So we were just wandering around, not knowing if we were headed towards an opening, or deeper into the cave system."

Dallin stared at the fire again. "At some point I twisted my foot on a rock and had to sit down. But our new leader didn't want to stop for anything. That caused a fair bit of arguing with the other leaders."

He grimaced. "In the end, it was decided that our new leader would wait behind with me while everyone else made some progress. Then they would call back to us with the walkie talkies and wait for us to catch up."

Kolka opened her mouth, presumably to ask about 'walkie talkies', but decided to let Dallin keep talking. Thankfully, Meechee followed suit.

"We did that a couple of times. Then one of the other leaders called and told him something had happened. So he took off and left me there alone, without even a walkie talkie." Kolka gasped softly.

"He was gone long enough for my headlamp to run out of battery. So I just had to sit there, in the dark, and the silence. No idea where I was. No idea where my group was." Dallin shrank into himself as the cave he was in now pressed in on him, just like the last one. 

"I was more scared than I've ever been. When no one came back after a couple hours, I thought I was going to die down there."

Kolka blinked solemnly. "But someone found you eventually, right?"

"Yeah. Eventually. It felt like hours and hours. Then we all got out and back to camp." He looked down. "But I've never been able to see caves the same way after that."

In the following moment of silence, he glanced desperately over his shoulder, eager for an excuse to escape for a bit and catch a breath of fresh air. "Oh look, I'm gonna go check the storm and see if it's settled down enough for us to go find everyone else." He stood and broke into a jog before Kolka could say anything else.

A high pitched shout told him Fleem was trying again to follow. Hopefully Kolka would hold him back.

Dallin stopped just outside the cave and looked up. It was still snowing a little, but stars were visible in a few small gaps in the clouds.

The storm had passed amazingly fast, but left behind what looked like many layers of snow on the ground.

Dallin sighed in relief at sweet freedom before the snow suddenly gave way under him, and he sank to his waist with a gasp. Once again, he was grateful for his borrowed yeti fur. He hadn't been cold once since the swap, not even during the worst of the snowstorm. 

"Dallin? Are you okay?" Kolka called, sounding worried. Dallin was too distracted to answer. He glanced up at the rest of the mountain over the cave. Snow coated it like a layer of icing on a cake, leaning dangerously over the side.  _ Holy smokes, that's a lot of snow! _

And it seemed to be slipping right towards the cave mouth.

Dallin grunted and struggled free from the snow. "I think we should go now! There's a lot of snow out here, and it looks like it could avalanche and block the cave entrance at any moment!"

There was a pause. "Okay." came Meechee's reluctant reply. "Fleem, you'd better put these back on. Yes, I know the coat is still a little bit damp, but it's better than nothing!"

Fleem's complaints were loud enough that Dallin could hear them clearly. 

He looked anxiously back up at the snow. Hopefully not loud enough to test the accuracy of movie avalanche logic.

But the two yetis got Fleem bundled up without mishap, put out the fire and appeared with all four humans in their arms. Kolka promptly sank to her knees in the white powdery snow. "Oh my….that  _ is  _ a lot of snow!"

Meechee shifted her hold on Percy and Brenda so one hand was free, and pulled on Kolka's arm until she was back on her feet.

"We'd better find Migo and everyone else as soon as possible." Meechee said with a frown. "This crazy night isn't over yet."

Dallin looked in the direction Tania had led him from. Good thing it wasn't too far. The other returned yetis would probably need some help.


	16. Chapter 15 Pt. 2

**Fleem:**

Having a damp coat was very irritating, Fleem decided.

It didn't freeze him straight to the bone the same way it had when it was wet, but it was frustrating how close it was to being dry without actually  _ being  _ dry.

He grunted as Kolka landed hard from a jump and then stumbled over a huge log hidden in the snow. Dr. Laker moaned and put a hand to his head once she'd regained her balance. "Please, not so rough." He signed to Kolka the best he could. Kolka looked down at him, and her expression became apologetic.

Meechee growled as she passed, and leaped across the rocks and snow like only a yeti could. Fleem couldn't suppress some mild resentment as Dallin's form followed, with agility that wasn't his. But he kept it to himself. 

At last, the smallfoot village came into view, still shining as bright and colorfully as ever over the snow and darkness. 

Meechee and Kolka immediately started roaring, probably calling for Migo. Dr. Laker winced and covered his ears. "Wow! You guys can be loud when you want to be!" Fleem turned to face him. "So can you, though you wouldn't think so with your puny squeaking!"  _ With  _ my _ puny squeaking.  _

As they approached the village, everyone looked around eagerly, but there was no sign of the other yetis. 

"Where did they go?" asked Percy, sounding anxious. 

Fleem squinted through the leftover snow floating through the air. "They're not here!"

Meechee and Kolka called out a few more times, but no answering roars came.

Fleem shuddered as the cold touched his damp coat, and pushed himself back into Kolka's fur as much as he could.

Then he saw something in a spot of light. A giant footprint.

"Look!" He pointed urgently at it, as the snow was already making it disappear before his eyes.

All the other smallfeet were instantly alert, making Meechee, Kolka and Dallin alert too. "They were here! But that print is pointed  _ away  _ from the city!" Brenda noted. "They left!"

"Where could they go?" Percy stared wide eyed at the new smooth patch where the footprint used to be. "Another cave somewhere else?"

"Where else?" Fleem muttered sarcastically.

Kolka growled questioningly at the smallfeet, wanting in on the discussion. Fleem groaned in exasperation at the language barrier. "Someone explain to them what we just said?"

But Meechee didn't wait. She gestured for Kolka and Dallin to follow, and immediately set off in the direction the footprint had led.

The light began to fade as the group moved away from the smallfoot village and back into the uneven wilderness.

"I can't see a thing!" Fleem complained. He was ignored.

The yetis began to call out again, their voices echoing through the rocks and snow. Percy joined in, "MIGO!"

Brenda glanced at him, and added her own voice to the blend.

"Fleem's mom!" Dr. Laker called, earning a glare from Fleem. "Her name is Tania!" He snapped.

But before Dr. Laker could respond, another voice made everyone snap to attention. The dark figure of a yeti appeared from behind a hill. "Thorp!" Fleem straightened up.

Thorp stopped in front of the group, out of breath. Fleem didn't need to understand what he was saying to know that something had gone wrong. 

In a moment, all of them were over the hill, and running towards a small group of yetis gathered around a snowdrift right next to the base of the mountain.

Fleem shot Thorp an unimpressed look. "If this is a joke, I don't get it."

Suddenly, Kolka dumped him and Dr. Laker onto a patch of snow and ran off to join the others at the snowdrift. "Hey! What gives!?" He stood up and brushed off his coat. "Why does everyone keep ditching me to go run around in the snow tonight?"

Meechee put Percy and Brenda down and followed Kolka, her movements dismayed. Dallin glanced back at them once and joined her.

Fleem frowned. "What's going on?" He asked as Percy and Brenda jogged over to join him.

The four smallfeet turned and watched as the yetis began to dig frantically at the snowdrift, even as more slid down from the rocks above.

Fleem closed his eyes as it hit him. "It's not a snowdrift. It's a cave! They've been snowed in, like we almost were."

The other smallfeet were silent for a moment. Percy slowly shook his head in dismay.

Dr. Laker still sat on the ground, for once at a loss for energy. "You think any of them got buried in the snow?"

Fleem carefully began to make his way across the deep snow. "I don't know. I'm gonna get a closer look."

As he got closer, the yetis stopped digging and exchanged growls and bewildered gestures in the darkness. There was too much snow sliding down the mountain. 

Fleem stopped close enough to hear muffled yeti growls behind the snow but far enough not to be caught in any of it. Percy appeared next to him, and a beam of light shot from his phone, revealing Brenda not far off.

The cave was unrecognizable as a cave with all that snow piled in front of it. Fleem looked it up and down, fighting feelings of both awe and dread.

"Migo?" Percy called again, earning anxious glances from the group of yetis. A muffled growl answered from somewhere in or behind the giant pile of snow. Likely the latter.

Percy rushed to stand right next to the snow and talk to Migo. "Hold on, buddy! We're gonna find a way to get you out. Alright?"

Fleem looked up in time to see another large clump of snow dislodge itself from the mountain and slide down towards the oblivious smallfoot.

"Percy!" Brenda cried in warning. Meechee yelped and rushed towards Percy. But he had already scrambled clear, just in time. "Whoa!"

Brenda grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the snowdrift. "Don't do that again!"

Meechee agreed, signaling with a hand for all three of them to stay put.

Fleem could do little more than stand frozen and stare, wondering how so much snow could possibly have collected in so little time. It seemed  _ endless,  _ coating the mountain as far as he could see in any direction, only a few dark splotches revealing the rock underneath.

The yeti group kept trying to dig, but they never made any progress. Every handful they scooped away was immediately replaced. 

"Good thing Dallin made us get out when we did." Brenda remarked. "This could easily have been us."

Percy nodded wordlessly, and continued to worry.

Fleem glanced around and spotted the dark lump of a nearby rock. He headed for it and brushed off the snow. He was tired of sitting on rocks without a cushioning layer of fur, but his legs had gotten a little sore.

He sighed and resigned himself to watching helplessly from the sidelines.

It felt like hours passed as the yetis tried to figure out what to do. By now it had almost stopped snowing completely, but there was still plenty to block the cave.

Everything exciting as well as everything boring began to catch up with Fleem. He jerked awake yet again, only to start drifting off seconds later. It became a pattern he couldn't escape, no matter how wide he kept his eyes open.

Digging obviously wasn't working, but no one stopped to think of anything different. Not even Meechee, who was usually on top of thinking up new ideas. What was she doing?

Fleem rubbed his eyes, trying to focus. 

He looked up as Dr. Laker finally wandered over, one hand on his makeshift bandage as if to remind himself it was there. "This isn't working." He said, echoing Fleem's thoughts.

Fleem folded his arms across his chest. "You're the genius around here. Why don't you think of a better idea?" He said, realizing too late that the words came out sounding wrong.

Dr. Laker visibly cringed. "I'm an inventor, not a mastermind."

Fleem huffed. "You can switch the bodies of a smallfoot and a yeti, but you can't figure out how to move a snowdrift?"

Dr. Laker shrugged helplessly, making Fleem sigh. "Well, we're all stuck here until someone stops to think of something, or all that snow melts, whichever comes first."

Percy, who had been pacing, stooped to grab a handful of snow and squeezed it in a gloved fist. "If only we  _ could  _ just melt it all at once." He said, sounding frustrated. "I don't suppose you yetis happen to have a big enough blow dryer lying around in your village?"

Fleem didn't bother to ask what that was. 

Percy dropped the newly formed snowball, disturbing the smooth cover on the ground. Fleem's eyes distractedly went to it, and suddenly, he was wide awake. "That's it!"

Percy turned to him, looking confused. "What? No, I was being sarcastic, Fleem."

Fleem rolled his eyes. "No, the  _ snow.  _ Look at how well it packs." He pointed at the snowball.

Percy glanced from it to him and back again. "Yeah?"

Fleem grinned. "And in case you haven't guessed, packed snow can be really strong. Trust me, I've made lots of things with snow."

"True. Where are you going with this?" chimed in Dr. Laker, looking intrigued.

Fleem gestured to the snowdrift. "Think! If we could pack the snow over there, and do it in just the right way, we might be able to shape a tunnel, and everyone could just crawl out!"

He surprised himself with how quickly this idea was forming in his mind. Usually he just stepped back and let the others do the brainstorming since he was hardly a mastermind himself.

The other smallfeet looked thoughtful and hopeful. "I think you're getting somewhere." said Dr. Laker. "But how could we get the snow to stay in place long enough to make a tunnel? Look, it fills itself back in before it can even make a hole."

Fleem looked away. "Right."

Dr. Laker's face brightened and he held up a hand as if to say, "don't give up quite yet'. "But if we had something to push through it to keep it from filling in, something we could pack the snow  _ around... _ it's certainly worth a try!"

Fleem nodded in satisfaction. "I'm not explaining it to them though." He jerked his head in the direction of the yetis. 

Percy gave him a playful nudge. "Tired of being a 'smallfoot'?"

Fleem wrinkled his nose and sniffed indignantly in response. Dr. Laker chuckled softly and headed towards the yetis. "I'll tell them."

Fleem watched him get their attention and begin making signs  _ he  _ couldn't understand. But Meechee straightened, and she came alive with new energy as everything came together. Fleem scowled. It wasn't fair. How did Dr. Laker get them to understand so quickly? 

Meechee signed something back to Dr. Laker. He paused and turned his head to yell, "She wants to know what we were planning to use to keep the snow filling in!"

Fleem raised his hands in an exasperated gesture. "Ehh, a rock? I don't know!"

His eyes went to Kolka's form. "The log Kolka tripped over?"

"Yes, that's perfect!" Dr. Laker turned back to communicate it to Meechee.

Meechee in turn explained the plan, which she understood perfectly, to the rest of the group. By Percy's light, some of them looked skeptical, but the alternative was to keep trying and failing to dig. So one by one, they all nodded.

At Meechee's direction, a bunch of yetis led by Kolka headed back the way they'd come, likely to find the log. Meechee began to call to those inside the cave again.

Fleem laid back on the rock, facing the dark cloudy sky. This would likely take a while.

* * *

And it did.

Fleem couldn't imagine how it could take so long to find one big log and bring it here. To a bunch of yetis, it couldn't have been  _ that  _ hard.

But it was, and he was about to die from boredom.

He eventually got up and started pacing just so that he was doing something, and he didn't stop until they returned.

"Finally." He muttered as they stumbled past, dragging the giant log.

He stood by as they shoved it through the snow, and quickly began to slap more handfuls around it. Fleem followed Percy's light as it exposed the mountain. It was going to take a lot of packing to keep that from falling, even for a minute.

He flinched as Dr. Laker grabbed his shoulder.  _ Stop doing that! _

"That's not going to be big enough for a bunch of yetis to crawl through." Dr. Laker pointed. "It's a big log, but it's hardly a redwood."

Fleem raised an eyebrow. "Why would we need red wood? It's just a color!" He shook his head and pushed past to the working group. He would never understand how smallfeet thought.

But he could see that Dr. Laker was right, at the same moment Meechee and Kolka did. The log might have been big for a log, but not for the yetis inside the cave. He turned dejectedly back to face Dr. Laker. "Do you have any better ideas?"

Dr. Laker raised a hand, revealing his wacky silver device. Fleem instantly took a step back. "What are you doing with that?"

"The log might not be big enough for a yeti to crawl through. But  _ you  _ might be able to fit." Dr. Laker held the device towards Fleem. 

Fleem stiffened. " _ What?  _ Are you crazy?" Dr. Laker ignored the jab. "Maybe you can crawl in, and use this to get everyone out. It worked the other day…."

"Yeah, I remember I ended up on your roof!" Fleem interrupted. "And if I'm not mistaken, you had a little trouble controlling that thing."

Dr. Laker opened his mouth to say something, but Fleem cut him off. "Besides,  _ he's  _ as you say, 'in the system' now too." He jabbed a finger at Dallin standing close by. "Something else could go wrong!"

Movement caught his eye, and he stepped back as Meechee knelt down next to him. He searched her face for any sign that she was frustrated with him per usual, but if she was, she didn't show it. Her brow was furrowed in anxiety, and her eyes were wide and pleading. Fleem found he couldn't speak as she signed and gestured towards the log and the snowdrift. 

She was telling him,  _ you have friends trapped in there.  _ He didn't need to understand her to know that. And she was right.

He remembered the day the others in the S.E.S had gone after Meechee down the mountain. He hadn't gone with them. He'd created every excuse he could, telling himself he was right to stay behind, that he wouldn't have made a difference even if he had jumped. 

But deep down, he knew it was because he'd been scared. The bravery needed to run into danger was way different than the bravery needed to question the Stonekeeper.

He'd been all too willing to leave the risks and heroics to Migo, Gwangi and Kolka. But he couldn't do that now, could he?

Fleem stood frozen as Dr. Laker put a hand on his shoulder and said something he couldn't focus on enough to make out. Numb, he looked past Meechee to the unstable snowdrift with new eyes, imagining the snow collapsing onto him, suffocating him, surrounding him with cold and darkness, leaving him helpless to struggle free….

He faintly felt a weight pressed into his hand, and looked down at the silver device. This plan was crazy. "I can't." he gasped. Percy appeared from nowhere and grabbed his shoulders. "Fleem, you  _ have _ to help them! You're the only one who can!"

Fleem shook him off. "Brenda could fit through it!"

Brenda shook her head. "Not quite as well as you. You're the thinnest out of all of us."

Fleem huffed. As if he hadn't had enough of that as a yeti. "Not by much!"

"It'll be a tight crawl, Fleem. Every little bit of difference matters, because that tunnel isn't going to be perfectly stable. You're the least likely to bump into the sides enough to knock it down."

Fleem snorted. "Thanks, I feel  _ much  _ better now." In the same moment, another spark of dread lit in his stomach.

He hated the way everyone was staring at him, both the yetis and the smallfeet. 

But before anyone could push him again, a roar came from inside the cave, taking everyone's attention off of Fleem. Meechee's expression became more worried, if that was even possible. She turned back to the smallfeet and held a hand to her throat, giving a few short gasps. 

Percy glanced at Brenda, then at Dr. Laker, then at Fleem with wide eyes. "The air's starting to run out in there. She says it's getting harder for them to breathe."

Fleem closed his eyes. His friends were depending on him, and this time, there was no excuse he could make. No one else to fall back behind to be the hero.

Somehow this certainty lessened his anxiety. 

He opened his eyes and looked again at the device in his hand. In fact, he noted with surprise, he felt braver without his indecision.

So he looked back up into Meechee's face and gave a single nod before he could start weighing the pros and cons.

Immediately the yetis set back to packing snow around the log with renewed resolve. Fleem clutched the device to his chest as he watched them build his death trap. What was he doing? This was crazy. But for his and his friends' sakes, it had to work. He couldn't give himself the chance to overthink it like last time.

His mind seemed to zone out, like he was in a trance as he slowly made his way towards the tunnel quickly being built. The yetis looked and felt over their new creation with tapping and critical eyes, searching for any weaknesses before beginning to carefully slide the log out.

Everyone watched in tense silence as it lightly scraped through the packed snow, sending little loose patches flowing down the sides. Would the tunnel collapse the moment it's support was gone?

The other end of the log came free and moved away. Everyone let out the collective breath they'd all been holding. The tunnel held, though a first glance at it and the huge gathering of snow on top of it made it obvious that it was far from stable.

Meechee beckoned Fleem over, looking grim and nervous. Fleem crouched to look through the tunnel. Only darkness was visible ahead.  _ Great. _

"Fleem?" Fleem looked back at Dr. Laker. "Don't let that device touch the snow. This one isn't waterproof." Fleem silently nodded and unzipped his coat just enough to shove his hand with the device in, wincing as some cold filtered in.

"Be careful." said Brenda.

Fleem forced himself not to look back as he crawled into the tunnel. Brenda was right about it being a tight squeeze. The curved walls closed in on him, caging him.

He moved forward, and felt his shoulder brush the side, sending a little powdery stream of snow to the ground. Immediately, his anxiety peaked, and he froze, breathing hard. There was currently at least one if not two mammoths' weight of snow right above him, ready to crush him if he made any wrong moves! He needed to back out and think about this a little more….

But his body wouldn't move, no matter how much he willed it to!

He was trapped!


	17. Chapter 15 Pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh, this took SO much longer than I intended.🥵
> 
> But to make up for it, it's extra extra extra long, so maybe it was worth the wait? 😅  
> I'll do better with the next and last chapter.

**Fleem:**

Fleem felt little beads of sweat break out on his hairline as he stared ahead into the pitch black tunnel, though he was shivering a little. From fear or cold, he couldn't tell.

His knees and the hand that wasn't shoved into his coat felt rooted to the ground, keeping him from moving forward or backwards.

Suddenly a light shone through the tunnel, making him gasp. "Fleem? Are you okay?" Percy called in. Fleem twisted his head, squinting against the bright beam from Percy's phone. "I'm stuck! I can't move!"

"What's stuck?" Percy's searching light moved over him, sparkling like glitter on the snowy walls. "Are you sure? You don't look stuck!"

"I can't move!" Fleem repeated, unable to keep from snapping. He bit his tongue to keep from shouting his frustration.

"No, you're okay." Brenda said in a soothing voice. "Just breathe. You're doing fine."

Gripping the device tightly inside his coat, Fleem glanced frantically around the tiny tunnel with only his eyes. "No I'm not! The whole thing's about to collapse the moment I bump into the side! Look, all I did was brush against it and a little snow came off! If I move, I'll die right here!" He stared straight ahead, wildly wondering what to do.

The light disappeared for a moment as Percy looked up to check something, then it swept over Fleem and the tunnel again. "No, you're fine. It's stable for now. Just keep carefully moving forward. Your friends are waiting on the other side. They'll help you if you need it."

This brought Fleem little comfort, but he took a breath in an attempt to slow his heart back down.

_ I'm not going to die. I'm not going to get buried by snow. I'm not going to die… _

He repeated the words like a mantra in his mind, and slowly, his free hand moved and dragged forward on the tunnel floor. Somehow he forced himself to begin crawling again, cowering under the weight of snow mere inches above his head.

_ Everything's fine. It'll be over in a moment. _

Deeper he went, moving  _ away  _ from the light at the end of the tunnel and towards the darkness. He couldn't relax, but as the other side slowly approached, he felt his confidence lifting ever so slightly. He was almost there. He'd be out before the snow had a chance to become unstable.

He gulped as he felt a handful of the cold white powder sprinkle into his hair from above.  _ Almost there….. _

He reached out into the darkness and his hand finally reached chilled cave rock. He wriggled forward eagerly, though carefully. He wasn't out of danger yet.

"Hello?" He called out, desperate to hear anyone's voice. Anyone at all.

Something alive touched the top of Fleem's head, making him flinch violently. But luckily for him, the tunnel still held. "Who's there?" He demanded blindly.

He felt the touch move from his head to his shoulders then down his back as if checking to be sure it was him. 

A delighted roar echoed through the cave, startling Fleem again. But before he could let out the complaint already on his tongue, a hand wrapped around his middle and pulled him free from the tunnel.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me." Fleem let out a long breath, still rattled. He'd experienced more crazy than he ever wanted to in that one harrowing crawl.

His rescuer lifted him away from the tunnel and set him gently on his feet. Immediately, Fleem heard the quiet rasping in the yetis' breaths and growls. The air was going stale. He could feel it too.

He swallowed and pulled out the device, gripping it so hard he imagined crushing it in his hand. If he dropped it here, in the darkness, he might not ever find it again.

"Okay, uh…" he felt it over, running his fingers over the raised dots….or buttons as Dr. Laker called them. "How does this work?" He mumbled. Dr. Laker hadn't told him what to do once he was actually inside.

He held the thing up uncertainly, pointing it towards the closest sounds of breathing. Would he have to make it scan them all one by one, and put them 'in the system' before it would send them outside?

Assuming he could even figure that out in this darkness.

Well, it couldn't be that hard if Dr. Laker had invented it by accident. He'd just have to try something.

Still pointing it, Fleem found the rows of buttons again and began pressing them, as many as he could. They clicked and beeped just as they had before, so he must have been doing  _ something _ right. "C'mon….do something!" He growled through his teeth. Nothing. 

"Hmph!" He moved forward and reached around until he felt thick fur. "You're good at torturing  _ me.  _ Why not just bring them along?" He turned the device around, until he was sure it was pointing towards himself and whoever was next to him. "Why am I doing this? You owe me big time!"

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the buttons again, cringing at the ugly sounds coming from them. Immediately, he felt a familiar blast of cold in his gut, and he opened his eyes to surprised exclamations and Percy's blinding light. Outside.

Fleem glanced up at Gwangi now that he could see him, and sank to the ground with a long shuddering sigh. Was it over?

Meechee and Kolka rushed to hug their fellow S.E.S member while Percy, Brenda and Dr. Laker surrounded Fleem. "You did it!" said Brenda. "That's one down!"

Fleem frowned, his heart dropping. "Only one? I thought this sent everyone out!"

Dr. Laker shook his head apologetically. "It's never been able to move more than two at a time from one location."

Fleem withered at the thought of crawling back through the tunnel. "Oh,  _ come on!"  _

He looked around, expecting to see everyone's eyes on him again. But they were gathering around the snowdrift again, with renewed worry. The muffled roars only made it worse. "What's going on? What now?" Fleem stood up and took a step towards them.

"Meechee?"

He looked over the group outside and suddenly noticed. "Oh."

"What?" The three other smallfeet said in unison.

Fleem gave Dr. Laker a flat look. "Remember when I mentioned Dallin is in the system?"

Dr. Laker winced and looked down, putting a hand to his injured head. "Ugh." He moaned.

Fleem held up the device. "Maybe you should just throw these away once this nightmare is over. They're far more trouble than they're worth."

Dr. Laker just shook his head dejectedly. "None of my projects have ever gone this wrong." He muttered so softly Fleem could barely hear him.

"So, wait _...Dallin's _ in the cave now? You two swapped places?" Brenda broke in, looking more exasperated than surprised. "These situations just keep piling up, don't they?"

Fleem sighed. "Let's just focus on getting out of this one." He looked up and met Meechee's gaze. Maybe he didn't have to crawl through again after all….

"So, should I throw this through the tunnel so Dallin can use it, or what?"

Dr. Laker quickly grabbed his shoulder as if he were afraid Fleem would go running off. "We can't get snow on it." He reminded him. Fleem nodded, heart preparing to drop. "So we'll have to put it in something." He said quickly. His eyes went to Dr. Laker's hand gripping his coat. "Give me your glove. It's just the right size."

After a little stuttering and protest, Dr. Laker sighed and pulled it off. "I want it back after this."

Fleem ignored him and shoved the device into the glove, fighting to get it completely covered. "I can't believe how this day has turned out." He muttered. "A few days ago, I was just living my life and minding my own business." But relief flooded him at the thought of an alternative to risking being buried alive again. As long as he threw the device far enough, anyway.

Meechee pointed towards the tunnel, making Fleem sigh. "Yeah yeah, I know, I'm moving."

He crouched in front of the tunnel and gave a quick nod to Percy with his light."You better grab this!" He shouted through to Dallin. "Don't make me come in there!" Then he threw the gloved device with everything his tiny smallfoot body had. It vanished into the darkness, and everyone went silent as they waited for Dallin to answer.

There was an uncomfortable silence, but eventually the answer came. He'd grabbed it, Meechee translated with a grin. Fleem let out a cloudy breath. "Tell him he has to point it at himself to make it work." Meechee tilted her head and gave a helpless growl.

Fleem threw up his hands. "Ugh, I'm sick of this! You tell her!" He gave Percy's shoulder a shove.

Thorp growled something, getting everyone's attention and pointed. Fleem followed his gaze along with Percy's light, but only saw the faint shimmering air for little more than two seconds before the freezing blast hit him again. Everything went dark and cold so suddenly that Fleem panicked for a moment, feeling himself over to make sure he was alive and conscious _.  _

_ Cave. I'm back in the cave. _

"Here we go again." He muttered aloud. It was better than crawling through the tunnel, but how would they break the cycle once everyone but he or Dallin was outside? 

"Alright, whatever, just throw it back! We'll just keep swapping places for the rest of the night, and hope neither of us dies in the process!" He reached out with both hands. "Now where's the tunnel?"

He squinted, and managed to make out a faint glow on the dark cave wall. Slowly, he made his way towards it, stumbling a couple of times on unseen rocks. He crouched, and finally caught sight of the tunnel, only faintly shown by Percy's light on the other side of it. It was even more eerie from here, he noted with a shudder.

Luckily, he didn't have much time to dwell on it before a soft  _ plop  _ came from just inside the tunnel. He reached in, and his hands quickly found the device inside the glove and snatched it up. "Okay, who's next? I wanna get out of here!" He turned back towards the darkness, and the rasping breaths.

A furry hand found him as he wandered aimlessly, resting on top of his head. Fleem wasted no time, and soon both he and the other yeti were outside again. Both took a big gulp of fresh air. Fleem froze as his breath became a sudden frigid chill passing through his body, running through his blood like frost. 

He shuddered as he glanced up at the villager he'd saved, but she showed no sign that she was experiencing the same thing. Nor that she noticed that he was. In fact, no one seemed to notice.

Fleem stood frozen in place, unable to bring himself to breathe, and the cold thankfully faded after a moment. He sighed in relief and pulled his coat tighter around himself. He was sick of being a furless smallfoot.

Shaking his head to clear it, Fleem jogged back towards the tunnel to repeat the process. Again and again.

Everyone eventually fell silent and watched from the sides as Dallin and Fleem phased in and out of the cave, each time with another yeti in tow. Fleem threw the device through the tunnel again, bracing himself for the device's chill. No matter how many times he felt it, it's sudden intensity always took him by surprise.

But this time was different.

This time, the breath left his body, and he fell to his knees, just as the snow disappeared and the ground turned to bare hard rock yet again. He gasped at the pain in his knees and his breath came flooding back. Fleem's chest heaved as he tried to get his bearings. The cold was gone again but it seemed whatever had just happened seemed to have sapped some of his energy too. He sagged a little, feeling drained.

_ What has that device done to me? _ He was sure it was to blame. 

As he struggled back to his feet, he could feel that his throbbing legs were trembling. The soft  _ plunk  _ of the device landing in the tunnel made him cringe. What would happen to him if he kept using it? Would the effects get worse? Would it start getting dangerous?

He swallowed hard as he found it again and shakily turned around to find another yeti. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the buttons, bracing himself for what he knew would come.

Then he collapsed into the snow outside, resisting the urge to be sick. 

Fleem moaned and glanced up at Migo, who looked far more healthy after the jump. The yeti immediately looked around, and found Percy among his overenthusiastic welcome committee. He grinned in relief and grabbed the smallfoot into a hug that was far too big for him, growling frantically. "Mmf. Missed you too, big guy." Percy wheezed. "But...loosen your grip a little...will ya?"

Someone pulled Fleem back to his feet. "How are you holding up?" Came Brenda's voice. Fleem scowled in the dark. "This monstrosity is making me sick. Dallin better be suffering too."

Brenda sighed at the remark. "I'm sure you'll both be fine. Meechee says almost everyone is out now. Just a few more."

Fleem snorted and pulled away from her, heading back towards the tunnel. "Percy! I need your light!"

"Working on it!" Percy shot back, still struggling in Migo's grip. 

Fleem looked up at Migo's form. "You want everyone out or not?" He called out, and held up the gloved device. "Heroics now, teary reunions later!"

Migo huffed a sigh and reluctantly let Percy go. 

Fleem shook his head and turned back to the task at hand, anxiety filling him again as he waited for Dallin to find the device.

He was right about the effects getting worse. As he appeared in the cave again, Fleem felt like he was going to pass out from the horrible combination of nausea, breathlessness and inner freezing cold.

Sprawled on the floor, he laid his head on a nearby rock, not caring that smaller pieces were digging into his side, and did his best to take deep breaths. All he wanted right now was to curl into a ball and never move again. Even as the sickness passed, he didn't see how he could summon the energy to sit up.

A few lingering growls came from nearby as the device was thrown through the tunnel again. Fleem instinctively curled up tighter and closed his eyes. "I can't do it." He whispered to no one in particular. He wasn't made for this. He wasn't meant to be a hero. He wasn't strong enough.

No matter what form he took, he was still the same weak, annoying, cowardly Fleem. 

A nearby scraping and a growl made him lift his head. "Who's there?" He called out warily. He'd gotten used to the sounds yetis made to smallfeet, but that didn't make them any less unnerving in the dark. 

As whoever it was got closer, Fleem felt loose pebbles shift and roll around him. He grunted and shifted slightly. "Don't step on me! I'm already dying. No need to trouble yourself." He brushed the rock dust off his coat with one hand. "I'm even due for an early burial with all the risks I've been taking in the snow tonight."

The yeti plopped down somewhere close by, and growled. A finger lightly poked Fleem's back. "Ouch! Careful, I'm  _ fragile  _ now!" He batted at the finger. "And I'm dying! I…" he was cut off as something dropped in front of him with a  _ clink _ . "What was that?" 

He narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't sound like the device. The device doesn't 'clink'."

Fleem felt around until he found something that wasn't a rock. "What  _ is  _ this?" He repeated. He picked it up and sat up, feeling it over. It was smooth and thin enough for Fleem to wrap his hand around it. "What…" He paused as his thumb brushed something small and round.  _ A button? _

It clicked as he pressed it, and suddenly light engulfed him. Fleem blinked and squinted, pointing the….magic light wand this way and that. "Whoa."

He shone the beam upwards, showing him his mother's face. "Oh, of course it's you. How long did you have this without bothering to say anything? I know the buttons are kind of small, but  _ seriously!  _ I could have used this!"

She held up a hand to shield her eyes and gestured with her head towards the tunnel, where the device waited inside it's glove. Fleem took one look, and retched at the mere thought of using it again. He still felt drained and sick from the last round.

"I can't do it, Mom. I'll die." He leaned back against the rocks to ease the nausea that wouldn't fade, grimacing as one jabbed into his back. Where was his mammoth fur blanket when he needed it? He looked up at his mom with as flat a look as he could manage. "Just look at me! I'm sure it's as bad as it looks."

His mom watched him with an expression he couldn't read. Was she annoyed? Or was that sympathy? A lot of her facial expressions looked the same through her default mask of 'tired'.

She turned away and stood, heading for the tunnel herself. Fleem groaned and put an arm over his eyes. "You helped build that monstrosity. Can't you make it stop making me sick?"

A moment later, he heard her returning footsteps, and felt a slight pressure as she placed the device on his chest.

Fleem trembled. "What if it kills me? I'm useless if I'm dead." He reasoned, though his mom couldn't understand. "We don't know what will happen if I keep using it."

His mom was having none of that. Gently, but firmly, her hand snaked under him and lifted him up to his feet. Fleem wobbled on shaking legs, and hugged her fingers to steady himself. "What's your problem? Don't you  _ care  _ that  _ your  _ device is making me sick?"

He shone his light at her again to make sure she could see his glare.

Unfazed, she looked him dead in the eyes and held his stare. Anger coursed through Fleem. He opened his mouth to yell at her, but his breath caught in his chest and trailed away. He didn't  _ have _ the breath to yell. The pause gave him the chance to notice his mom's own short breaths. Right. He'd forgotten about the stale air.

Fleem sagged. His mom wasn't being calloused. She knew time was running out.

But how could he keep going like this?

Without breaking eye contact, his mom beckoned over the one other yeti left in the cave. He approached slowly, blinking as his eyes accustomed themselves to the light wand. 

Fleem wanted to protest, but found he couldn't bring himself to move or speak. So he watched helplessly as his mom positioned the yeti behind him and pointed at the device in his hands. 

Fleem squeezed his eyes shut, willing the sickness to fade. In a moment, it was going to get worse.

He hit the buttons, and waited. This time, it took so long that Fleem wondered if it was going to work at all.

But it did, so suddenly that Fleem thought he was going to pass out. Vaguely, he was aware that he'd landed facefirst in the snow, and that the other smallfeet were running to him. Brenda grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up, to which he responded by throwing up everything in his stomach.

Brenda flinched backwards, looking herself over to see if he'd gotten any on her. In any other circumstances, Fleem would have laughed. But tonight, he wasn't having it. "You want to take my place?" He snapped. "I'll happily trade you!"

Brenda sighed. "Calm down. I'm sorry. You just surprised me."

Cheeks burning, Fleem looked away from her as Percy pulled him up. "Hmph." 

He fought the urge to be sick again as a new wave of nausea struck. Yep, this was  _ so  _ much worse than before.

Percy held him steady as he swayed, ready to pass out right there. His head was light, his ears rang, and he'd broken into a cold sweat. He was faintly aware of someone saying his name, but he didn't really care. "I need to sit down." The words came out so softly he wasn't sure he'd spoken them at all. But when he fell to his knees, Percy seemed to understand. "Tell Dallin we're going to wait a moment!" He called and signed back to Meechee. "Fleem needs a little break!"

For the first time, the S.E.S actually noticed the toll this fiasco had taken on Fleem. Meechee looked at him in surprise. Kolka and Gwangi frowned in concern. Migo looked down, ashamed.

Fleem sniffed. "Don't mind me. I'm just out being a hero and suffering the consequences for it."

He winced and closed his eyes as his head started pounding. "Ouch."

Percy grabbed him under the arms and began dragging him across the snow. 

"What are you doing?" Fleem forced out through a few groans. The movement didn't help the sickness at all. 

He felt something solid behind him, and gratefully leaned against it. It must have been the rock he was sitting on before.

Dr. Laker took the device from his hand and winced at it's heat. "Oh dear. This thing is beat. It's about ready to fry itself!" He looked down at Fleem. "And you look beat too. I don't think either you or it could manage another trip."

Fleem didn't think so either. It brought him a guilty pang of relief, but he was all too aware of the new problem it created: how were they going to get both Dallin and his mom out of the cave without the device?

"Then we'll have to find out another way to rescue Dallin and Tania." Brenda echoed his thoughts, looking back at Meechee, who was approaching with the rest of the S.E.S. "Quickly. There can't be much air left in there."

Fleem sat up as much as he could and used his light wand to see everyone's faces. "Could we build a bigger tunnel? Neither my mom or Dallin are very big."

"Not unless we could find a bigger log." said Percy.

Meechee knelt down closer to their level, and made a digging motion with her hands. 

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances. "The snow kept filling it in, remember?" Fleem reminded her.

Meechee bit her lip as she glanced back at the snowdrift. She pointed up at the dark clouds and gestured around them. Fleem scrunched his face and shrugged helplessly.

Percy watched her closely. "The sky...the clouds? Oh, it's stopped snowing!" He looked up at the mountain. "There's still a bunch up there, though."

Fleem glanced between the S.E.S and other smallfeet as they kept talking. It didn't take a genius to see they were out of other ideas. Meechee was hiding it well, but she was on the verge of panic. He could see it in her eyes.

It looked so wrong on her that Fleem felt his own stomach begin to drop. Gwangi and Kolka were more than capable, of course, but Meechee was the one who always stepped up and found a way when no one else knew what to do. She was confident and quick thinking. He'd grown to rely on that fact, and step back to let her figure things out.

Fleem looked back at the pile of snow that trapped his mom and the smallfoot in his body, and his eyes went to the tunnel. The tunnel  _ he'd  _ suggested. 

And it had actually worked. He found himself looking over the large group of yetis that now stood outside safe and free, in part because of him. Surely that had to count for something?

To Fleem's surprise, the thoughts had him sitting up straighter, despite the cold and nausea in his stomach. At the same time, it brought him to a realization.

He wasn't simply a bystander like he'd convinced himself.

So many times, he'd witnessed the competence of the other S.E.S members, and known he could never measure up. He couldn't contribute the way they could. They had accepted him into their secret society, but some part in the back of Fleem's mind had always reminded him that he was the least competent. Scrawny. Weak. Gutless.

And no amount of big talk and quips could silence it, though he sure tried.

But now, as he looked back and forth between his friends' stumped faces and the gathering by the snowdrift, his mind cleared up in a way it hadn't for a very long time. His mom and Dallin should have been with that group.

His heart quickened. How much time did they have left before the rest of the air ran out?

Almost on it's own, his body stood up amidst the arguing yetis and smallfeet, and began to walk back towards the death trap of a tunnel.

Everyone gradually went silent as they noticed him, and turned to see what he was up to.

Fleem stopped and looked up at the looming mountain, shining his light wand at the overhanging snow. So much snow….

"Fleem?" He was barely aware of Percy coming to stand next to him.

Fleem shook his head. "There's no digging that away." He said hoarsely. 

He slowly looked down at the device still in his hand. One more switch would destroy it, leaving him a smallfoot and Dallin a yeti forever. 

Dr. Laker appeared on his other side. "Fleem. We'll find another way."

No. There was no time.  _ Mom… _

He could lose his mom if he didn't do something. As strained as their relationship had become, he couldn't bear the thought. 

And he though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he couldn't deny that he'd developed a  _ slight _ fondness for that nervous body-stealing little monster too. 

But to give up his one last chance of going back to his body? It was almost as daunting.

Fleem trembled as he looked from the tunnel to the gloved device, and not just from his side effects. Involuntary tears pricked the corners of his eyes. "I have to." He whispered. There was no other way.

He felt Percy's hand on his shoulder. "Fleem." The red haired smallfoot's voice was soft with pity.

Fleem couldn't look at him. He gripped the device as he drew back his arm. Was he really doing this? Yes, he was, he told himself sternly. This time, he was the only one who could make a difference. This wasn't like that morning on the cliff edge.

His arm swung. The device was flung forward, and disappeared into the darkness, along with his yetihood. Fleem stared after it in shock before falling to his knees and wiping at the few tears running down his face. This was it. There was no going back. 

It brought a sharp twinge of pain to think of it. But he supposed it was better to know for sure than to cling to a bit of torturous uncertain hope. 

Fleem ignored the S.E.S and the other smallfeet as they gathered around him and tried to offer words and growls of comfort. There  _ were  _ no words that could make this better.

When the rush of cold and nausea hit again, Fleem welcomed it, and found himself curled up and trembling once again on the uncomfortable cave floor. 

Alone, this time.

So that was everyone. All the trapped yetis were now safe. But what about him? 

He managed to turn his head and shine his light wand on the tunnel, the only way back out without the device. Was he supposed to somehow crawl through it in his current state? He could hardly even move, and the stale air wasn't helping!

The sounds of muffled roars and overall commotion made their way through the wall of snow. Fleem lifted his head, but before he could say anything the cold and nausea began to ebb away with a suddenness that made his heart skip a beat. He jerked up to a sitting position, alertness and energy flooding back into him. "How did…."

He leaped to his feet and rushed towards the tunnel as well as he could, gasping for breath. "Guys? What's happening?" 

Percy's light appeared at the other end. "Uh…"

"It's the device, isn't it?" Fleem realized with a pang. "It must have stopped working! It isn't making me sick anymore!"

"Fleem, is Dallin still in there? We only see your mom!" 

Fleem's brow furrowed. "Why would…" He was interrupted by a sudden barrage of roars. "The snow!" Dr. Laker cried. "Percy, move!" Brenda shouted.

Percy's light disappeared, and with a suddenness that made Fleem jump back, the tunnel collapsed. "No!" Fleem's heart sank to his undersized feet. "Percy, that was my only way out!"

He could no longer make anything out from the other side. "No no NO!"

A sound from behind echoed Fleem's cries. Fleem whipped around, shining his light wand around the cave. A slight movement caught his attention. "Dallin!?" The smallfoot-yeti was huddled against a back wall, holding a hand to his chest as he tried to breathe.

Fleem stumbled across the rocky ground until he stood in front of Dallin. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you go with my mom?"

Dallin stared at him blankly, and held out a hand. In his palm sat the cursed device.

Fleem snatched it and yanked it out of the glove. Sure enough, there were no more beeps from the buttons. No signs that this thing was anything more than a block of metal.

He looked up and met Dallin's eyes. Neither of them needed any signs to come to an understanding.

Dallin slowly shook his head. He looked ready to fall apart at any moment.

Fleem slumped down against the wall, feeling suddenly numb. "Well. I have to admit, this wasn't how I expected to spend the rest of my life."

Dallin growled softly in response.

Fleem laughed, not in amusement but in disbelief. "Me. A smallfoot, with everything that entails. I can't even  _ visit  _ my  _ own  _ village anymore."

His  _ home.  _ There would be no more S.E.S meetings, no more overexcited yetis in the morning, no more wisecracking to Kolka and Gwangi….

Everything he knew was gone.

Dallin curled up even more and let out a shaky rasping breath. "Yeah." Said Fleem. "But we'll probably just die in here anyway. Why didn't you go with my mom? You could have gotten out of this oh-so-terrifying cave."

Dallin blinked as Fleem translated as well as he could. "It makes sense that she would have already been 'in the system' if she helped make this thing. But so are you.  _ Why  _ did you stay behind?"

The smallfoot-yeti blinked again and slowly raised a hand to point at Fleem. 

Fleem frowned and put a hand to his chest. "You...stayed because of  _ me _ ?" He said in surprise.

Dallin nodded and glanced anxiously around at the cave, shrinking even further into himself.

Fleem stared at him in bewilderment and confusion. "Wow. You are _crazy._ What did you think you could do? You're just joining me to die." But he couldn't keep a soft smile off his lips.

"Geez, we're not even supposed to like each other, let alone face our fears and risk our lives for each other. Yet here we are. Huh."

Dallin did his best to return the smile, but Fleem could tell he was dying inside. Outside, too.

The two silently looked towards the blocked entrance, listening to the frantic digging and scraping outside. "You think they'll make any ice sculptures in our honor after we're gone?" Fleem poked Dallin's arm. "We  _ were _ pretty heroic out there."

His voice was becoming more drowsy and tired with each breath he took. "C'mon, Shorty….don't leave me...hanging."

Dallin looked downright lethargic. His eyes were growing blank and droopy, and he'd gone almost completely limp. He mumbled, a very strange sound coming from a creature who growled to talk.

Fleem grinned sleepily. "Ya know…as far as smallfeet go...you're not  _ so  _ bad. I'm finally...getting proper respect." He pointed lazily. "Lookit me rambling. It's...because of you."

The cave began to fade, darkness engulfing the beam from his light wand. Fleem sagged against the wall, feeling himself fading too. It was terrifying, but strangely relaxing at the same time. He managed to reach out and grab one of Dallin's fingers. "But...I have to admit...for all your jumpiness...you're braver than I am. You're...a good kid, Shorty."

Fleem couldn't see the smallfoot-yeti's face, but he could have sworn he lost some tension.

As he fought for what faint amount of consciousness he had left, Fleem was barely aware of anything. He heard digging.. and Dallin's slow breaths… and voices. His eyes went to the entrance as a few faint figures suddenly broke through it, but he couldn't register it. The last thing he saw was some yeti crouching over him before everything went dark.

* * *

Fleem woke up confused.

He was in Percy's home, on the couch, he knew. But he was forgetting something important….

The device. He was stuck as a smallfoot forever.

Fleem buried his face in the blanket covering him. He hadn't died. But did that mean he ever had to leave this couch? He'd just stay here forever and never move again. Maybe then, he could forget that he had lost the life he knew.

"Fleem! You're awake." Percy's voice appeared next to the couch. "How are you feeling?" Fleem peeped at him with one eye. "Mmf."

Percy nodded. "That's how Dallin felt too."

"Where are the yetis?" Fleem moaned.

"They went back up the mountain. Your friends waited here a while, but you were out for a long time. I told them to go get some sleep."

Fleem sat up. "In the cave. How did you get to us? We were thoroughly trapped."

Percy smiled. "We held up the log to block enough of the snow to send a few yetis in. It was rough, but we managed."

Fleem groaned. "Seriously? Why didn't we think of that before…" He turned his head and caught sight of the two devices on the coffee table, the most notable being the broken one. His heart clenched.

Percy followed his gaze. His face was the picture of sympathy. "We'll find a way, Fleem. Dr. Laker will fix it somehow."

Fleem shook his head. "We keep saying that. But something always goes wrong." He collapsed as a wave of exhaustion slammed into him out of nowhere. "I've admitted defeat, and so has Dallin." 

He curled up into a ball. "I'm going back to sleep."

Percy waited a moment before finally nodding and heading back to his own room.

Fleem frowned. He was so tired. He'd been tired pretty much nonstop over the past couple of days. But this was a different tired. This tired sank into his very bones instead of simply clouding his mind. 

He'd felt just like this the same night he and Dallin swapped bodies. 

He was out cold before he could question it further.


	18. Chapter 16

**Dallin:**

Dallin jerked awake to the worst freezing cold he had ever experienced.

He sat up and looked around Fleem's room. It seemed  _ way _ bigger than when he'd gone to bed. His confusion vanished in an instant.  _ No way. _

Dallin looked down at his body. His fur was gone, replaced by his familiar sweatpants and Percy's borrowed coat. He was back.

_ He was back.  _ Actually back.

Dallin laughed, running his hands over his arms and smoothing down his coat to be absolutely sure this was real. He started to stand up, and wobbled. He wasn't accustomed to having normal sized feet anymore. He plopped back down with a grunt.  _ Right. I'll have to adjust again. _

Dallin moved his numb toes as much as he could. It felt like he'd just woken up from a really long bizarre dream.

Except he was still at the top of the mountain. This time without fur and with less capable lungs.  _ Crapcrapcrapcrap.  _ If he and Fleem had swapped back, shouldn't he have ended up at Percy's apartment?  _ Figure it out later.  _ He told himself sternly.  _ After you get out of here. _

"Uh, Tania!" He shouted as loudly as he could. "I need some help over here!" He strained for any sounds from the quiet house. Had she left for the city already? "T-Tania!"

Dallin shivered violently as the rest of his body quickly went numb. Perhaps he'd gotten just a little too used to not getting cold. Yeti fur was warmer than any coat.

He crawled to the edge of the giant rock bed and looked down. Fleem may have been small for a yeti, but his bed was still huge for a human. Getting down by himself was officially off the table. "Hello!"

A giant form burst through the curtain door, skidding a little on the ice floor. Tania's eyes went straight to Dallin, and widened.

Dallin let out a relieved breath. "Oh, thank goodness! You're still here! I got worried for a moment."

Fleem's mom blinked and went to speak, but her words came out as animal-like growls. 

Dallin leaned back in surprise. The harsh sounds sounded wrong coming from her. "Oh. Right. I guess we're back to opposite sides of the language barrier now."

Tania approached the bed, still looking him over. Dallin swayed, beginning to feel tired. Not a good sign. He put a hand to his chest and looked her right in the eyes. "Please, I need you to understand  _ this _ at least. I need to get back to…"

He was cut off as Tania scooped him up, cradling him like a newborn, and in an instant, they were heading out of the room and towards the front door. He yelped as she stumbled on something in her rush and almost fell. "Whoa! Slow down!" Tania growled as she recovered and bolted again.

Dallin squinted as the two burst through the entrance. It was still mostly dark outside, with the sun barely peeking over the mountain ridges. It did absolutely nothing to drive away the cold, but at least the longest night of Dallin's life was over.

Tania roared, making him flinch. She'd seemed a lot less loud when she spoke in words. A moment later several tired looking yetis poked their heads through their windows and curtained entrances. Dallin recognized one of them as Kolka. She frowned as she saw Tania, no doubt wondering why she'd been woken up so early. Then her eyes honed in on Dallin. Kolka perked up, shaking her head, and immediately jogged to meet them.

Dallin struggled to get upright in Tania's hold. "N-No time to explain. We've g-gotta get down before I f-freeze to death." He sighed as Tania tightened her grip, making it harder to move. She ignored him and growled something to Kolka. After nearly a week of talking to them, it messed with his brain to go back to this.

Dallin gave up his struggle and sagged. "P-Please, it's  _ really  _ cold up here!" He tapped Tania's hand desperately. 

Kolka gave Fleem's mom a nod, her expression determined, and both yetis parted, moving in opposite directions at full sprint. Dallin recognized the yeti village entrance ahead. But where was Kolka going? 

He twisted his head to look behind Tania, and caught a glimpse of her disappearing into another house. Gwangi's house, he remembered. So she was rallying the troops...

As the village passed out of sight, Tania hunched over him, doing her best to shield him from the cold. She growled softly, obviously trying to reassure him. Dallin offered a grateful smile, even though he could no longer understand.

Once they reached the cliff edge, Tania didn't even stop to look down. Clinging to her, Dallin squeezed his eyes shut as she leaped with all the strength and grace only a yeti could have. The fall was much bigger for a human.

Tania didn't scream like everyone else did as the two plummeted towards the ground far far below them, giving way for the wind to fill the air space. Dallin bit his tongue and tried to focus on _anything_ else. 

The city. He was on his way back to the city. His home. This time for good. He could go back to his own life.

And Fleem too. If Dallin had woken up on the mountain, Fleem must still be in the city, now as himself.

He peeped through one eye, hoping for a glimpse of the familiar bright neon lights. Fleem would likely be as overjoyed as Dallin to find out that they weren't trapped forever in each others' bodies after all. Maybe then he wouldn't have to see everything he'd lost every time he looked at Dallin.

He was pulled back as Tania landed on her back in the snow, making both of them grunt. Dallin went limp, a little stunned, but relieved too. The cold had eased and he could breathe again, but that fall had taken a lot out of him.

Tania stood up and looked him over with a smile. Dallin gave her a thumbs up. "Another successful crash landing." He mumbled.

The yeti lifted him to her shoulder, keeping a hand on his back for support. She growled and pointed at the path ahead. Dallin grinned, letting himself feel excited now that he was out of the danger zone. "You said it."

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem's eyes snapped open.

The first thing he noticed was that his blanket was no longer on top of him. The second was that he was on the floor.

Almost by instinct, he reached and felt around for the blanket. Only then did he notice a third thing: that he was no longer so small and furless.

Fleem gaped at his hands, taking in every detail to make sure this wasn't a dream he could suddenly wake up from. He flexed his fingers, and slowly sat up, hunching as he almost hit his head on the ceiling. He didn't wake up. He felt at the sides of his head and found the familiar hardness of his lost horns. This was real!

Fleem could have cried right there in pure overwhelming joy. Then he noticed Percy staring at him with wide eyes, and almost had a heart attack. "Gah! Don't do that!"

Percy looked around and said something in the high pitched gibberish Fleem had been sure he'd never hear again.

Quickly recovering, he grinned at the smallfoot. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you have  _ no idea  _ how good it feels to hear you not making sense again." He shifted, and froze as the floor let out a big  _ CREAK.  _ "Uh oh."

Percy held up his hands, gesturing frantically for Fleem to keep still, and looked around again for any way to get him outside.

Fleem glanced over his shoulder at the large window, wincing as one of his horns lightly scraped against the ceiling. It was the only opening big enough for him to crawl through. Assuming he could get to it without falling through the floor.

Percy followed his gaze and ran an exasperated hand down his face. Fleem shrugged helplessly, the motion bringing more unwelcome sounds from the floor. Percy bit his lip and pushed his way past Fleem towards the window, pulling out his phone to send a text. 

At Fleem's suspicious look, he began signing, and jabbering, gesturing at the window, the phone, the front door…

Fleem simply shook his head with a sigh. He'd never be as good with smallfeet as the rest of the S.E.S.

Not long after, Brenda came through the door and immediately ran to join Percy with a quick nod to Fleem. The two smallfeet began to unlatch the window pane. _ Oh. _

Fleem watched them, starting to get restless. He didn't dare move, not even to turn and face them better. It would be a shame to fall and die now, after all he'd been through.  _ Hurry! _

Percy and Brenda eased the pane away from its frame, and leaned it gently against the wall. Cold air blew through the newly made hole in the wall, making them shiver. But Fleem didn't feel a thing. One of many perks of being a yeti.

The floor groaned as Fleem slowly and tactfully began to maneuver himself in the tiny living room. He forced himself to keep his eyes straight forward, and not imagine what would happen if it gave under his weight. He was too big. And he was only a  _ small _ yeti.

He poked his head through the opening, and looked down at the street a couple stories beneath him. Ha! That jump would be a piece of fruit! He just needed to take it easy...turn around again, and put out one leg...then the other...there!

Fleem let go of the window edge and dropped lightly to the ground. Percy and Brenda's heads peeked out, and he grinned. "See, I told you we just had to keep trying!" That was a lie of course, but hey, it wasn't like they could understand him.

Laughing, he spun and took off down the street, reveling in the freedom of his newfound speed. For the first time, he really noticed the strength of his own legs, short as they were.

He'd never forget, he vowed. 

Then something occurred to him.

_ I'm still in the smallfoot village. Why didn't I wake up in my own bed? _

Fleem stopped just outside the maze of buildings and looked up at the mountain. That meant Dallin was still up  _ there.  _ At least until his mom or one of the S.E.S members noticed his current...state. 

Fleem smirked. How much of a shock had the poor smallfoot gotten to wake up at the coldest time in the coldest place with no fur?

A sound from behind made him turn around. Percy and Brenda drove up on their snowmobiles and quickly hopped off. Now that Fleem could stand at full height, he noticed just how small they were now. He straightened up even more with a smile. Percy rolled his eyes at him but before he could say anything, something behind Fleem got his attention. He pointed.

Fleem turned and squinted as a running figure leaped over a rock, heading straight for them. He recognized her immediately. "It's my mom." As she slid down a hill, he realized she was holding something on her shoulder. No, someone. "Looks like Dallin caught her just in time." The smallfoot looked dazed from the wild ride.

"Wait up!" Called a voice out of sight. Fleem's mom stopped at the top of the last slope down to the village. She looked back just as several more yetis ran into view. The S.E.S. 

Puffing, Gwangi, Migo, Meechee and Kolka caught up and together all the yetis slid down the slope.

Fleem's mom set Dallin onto his feet, where he promptly sank to his knees in snow. Fleem laughed at the look on his face. He obviously had some things to get used to all over again. In fact, everything about being a smallfoot was a huge adjustment.

Fleem grabbed Dallin around his middle with both hands and lifted him out of the snow to his eye level. "Well,  _ Shorty _ ! Who's the short one now, huh?" He lightly shook him. "Who makes a better yeti?"

Kolka glared at him, exasperated. "Fleem…" She took a step towards him, but cut herself off as she noticed that both Fleem and Dallin were grinning.

"What? That's it? No 'welcome back'' for one of your  _ best friends? _ " Fleem put Dallin down and crossed his arms with an expectant smirk. "Admit it. You missed me. All of you."

Kolka sighed and half smiled wearily. "Yes Fleem. We did." 

The others simply gave small nods of agreement. His mom looked on with an unreadable expression.

Fleem's smile grew. "Good. Cause you're never getting rid of me again. I'm coming to every S.E.S meeting, and annoying you until you've gone crazy! In fact, everywhere you go, I'll be there! You won't be…"

"Fleem!" Meechee ran a hand down her face. "Just come here." She held out her arms. Fleem hesitated, then walked forward into her embrace. To his surprise, Kolka joined on one side, Migo on the other. Gwangi's big arms encircled the group from behind. Then with a little reluctance, Fleem's mom joined in at the edge.

Fleem blinked as he got hemmed in on all sides, at a loss for words. He hadn't quite expected his friends to get all mushy about this. And his mother even less. They always spent more time yelling at him than showing affection. 

But it was nice nonetheless. 

No one moved for a long moment, not even the three smallfeet watching from the sidelines. Fleem glanced over his shoulder and saw them all smiling. He huffed. "Okay, okay, you can stop giving us those eyes now."

The yetis promptly broke apart and stepped back. Kolka swatted his shoulder more gently than usual. "Really, Fleem?"

Fleem ignored her and turned to his mom standing next to him. She held his gaze for a moment and looked down. "I'm...glad to see you back, Fleem."

Fleem looked into her tired face. He hadn't really talked to her since she'd found out he'd joined the S.E.S. She had had plenty to say then, but couldn't seem to find any words right now. 

Fleem couldn't either. So he settled for, "me too, Mom." He managed a small smile, which she returned.

"But I still don't understand how. That device was pretty broken."

Fleem's mom thought for a moment. "Maybe not as much as we thought. It must have had at least enough strength to keep you here and Dallin on top of the mountain. I will have to discuss it further with Seth Laker, after his head heals a bit more. He should be resting inside today."

Fleem shrugged. "As long as you keep those things and anything like them far away from me. I'm done." He didn't really care how he was back. He was too happy to be back to care.

He looked down at Dallin. "Besides, you and I have something else to do that's equally important."

* * *

**Dallin:**

A minute later, Dallin was tucked under Fleem's arm as they approached the Yak Shack. "My workplace? What are…"

Ron and Dave had just arrived for a morning shift. They spun in surprise as Fleem came charging straight for them. Without wasting a second, the yeti raised his free arm to make himself look bigger and began a tirade of growls and snarls.

Dallin gaped along with Ron and Dave.  _ This  _ was the first thing Fleem wanted to do back in his own body? Terrorize his self appointed bosses?

He couldn't deny that there was some level of satisfaction to it. 

Their eyes went to Dallin in Fleem's grip. Dallin smiled and shrugged helplessly. "What he said."

Without a word, Ron and Dave fled into the Yak Shack out of sight.

Dallin sighed as Fleem set him down on the sidewalk. "Well. If I wasn't out of a job before, I definitely am now. Thanks, Fleem."

Fleem brushed off his fur, looking rather pleased with himself. The concept of having a paying job must have seemed foreign to him. 

But what would Dallin do now? 

Percy appeared next to him. "He did that to me when I first met him." He chuckled. "I think he thinks he's being scary."

Dallin grimaced. "I think he's still a little salty about having to do the dishes."

Percy laughed. "You don't say!"

Brenda jogged over to join them. "What in the world is he doing?"

Fleem had his face pressed up against the Yak Shack window, making faces at Ron and Dave inside. People passing by stopped to stare.

The other yetis had gathered on the street, shaking their heads. Meechee put her hands on her hips and growled, but there wasn't any real frustration in it.

"How good are you with a camera?" 

Dallin snapped his head back to Percy. "A what?"

"A camera. For a TV show? My last cameraman just quit last week."

"I-I don't know. I've used a camera before, but this seems out of the blue. You want  _ me  _ to replace your cameraman? We just met a few days ago."

Percy glanced at the yetis. "I was thinking it would be useful to hire someone who knows yetis. You've talked to them in their own language and lived in their village for said few days. That's more than even I can say." 

He looked thoughtfully at Brenda, who nodded. "It would mean you'd be in on a lot of the action. We need the best shots we can get."

"We'd be happy to have you." Brenda added. "We haven't had much luck finding a new cameraman."

"That too." muttered Percy.

Dallin hummed. It wasn't every day a job just fell into your lap.

Fleem glanced back at him with a smirk. Dallin couldn't keep back a smile. He stepped up to the window and looked inside. Ron and Dave were doing their best to ignore Fleem, but frankly, he was very difficult to ignore.

Dallin crossed his arms and looked up at him. "I think they've had enough." Fleem growled a laugh and stood up to his full height. Kolka and Gwangi rolled their eyes, unimpressed. Meechee gestured for everyone to follow her back to the yeti-human meeting place outside the city.

The rest of the yeti village was arriving. People rushed to meet them, shouting happily. It was like the past few days hadn't happened at all. 

Dallin stood apart from the crowd, marveling. None of these people were aware that Dallin's and Fleem's worlds had collided and been rocked. Then just this morning he was back. Was everything really just going back to normal? 

Dazed, wandered further away and sat down on a boulder. Migo and Percy talking excitedly...yetis following their human friends farther into the city…Tania had disappeared, likely to find Dr. Laker.

A giant finger shoved Dallin's shoulder, almost knocking him off the Boulder. Fleem huffed and plopped down next to him in the snow. 

Dallin brushed off his shoulder. Maybe everything wasn't  _ entirely  _ normal anymore.

Fleem started signing and growling as best as he could. Dallin let him talk as they watched everyone else talk. The shorter yeti had opened up to him since they'd first met. Perhaps they could even be considered friends now.

Dallin turned to face him. "You know, for what it's worth, I don't think you're so bad. Just a little misunderstood."

He knew exactly what Fleem heard. But something in his eyes made Dallin think he understood what he meant. 

Fleem got up and gestured with his head for Dallin to follow him. Dallin tilted his head. "Where?"

Fleem swept his arm out towards the city and gestured again.

"Oh." Dallin slid off the boulder. "Is this what you usually do when you come down here?"

Fleem responded by walking away, making sure to take small strides.

Dallin followed.

The two fell into an easy silence, walking wherever their steps took them through the city.

* * *

**Fleem:**

Fleem glanced back at Dallin. He looked more relaxed than he'd ever seen him.

He smiled. He still wasn't a people person. But as he and his smallfoot friend made their way through the maze of lights, he supposed they couldn't be  _ all _ bad.

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this story this long! I had fun writing it! 😁
> 
> Stay tuned! There will likely be more stories to come!


End file.
